Lauren E. Chapman – Grosse Pointe News (subscription)

Lifelong Grosse Pointe resident Lauren Edgar Chapman died Thursday, April 8, 2021, at her home in Grosse Pointe Farms. She was 84.

Family was the primary focus of Lauren’s life; their shared love sustained her throughout life, her family said. Lauren also loved her dear friends, conversation, music, horses, travel, reading, sunlight, pure white snow, animals, flowers, thunderstorms, Christmas and any reason to welcome people into her home to celebrate. She loved all holidays and decorating her home with her collections. Rabbits surfaced in the spring, bowls of fruit and gourds in the fall, flowers throughout all seasons and an avalanche of Christmas items.

Lauren’s summer home in the Pennsylvania mountains was her sanctuary. There, she felt most content, nestled in her private place, surrounded by water and a rich forest populated with the animals she adored. Lauren enjoyed many decades of friendships forged on the shores of Lake Wallenpaupack and said re-entry was tough when returning home each autumn to the reality of busy schedules.

After she returned from Bennett College in Millbrook, N.Y., Lauren was a legal secretary to a partner in a large Detroit law firm. She credited her boss with his teaching of legal disciplines, insisting on perfection with each document. These skills served her well throughout her life and often opened doors for new volunteer opportunities and board positions. After Lauren married Benjamin G. Chapman July 12, 1958, she worked for an industrial design company and as a part-time office assistant to a local naval architect. Following the birth of her fourth child, Lauren partnered in an antique shop and for many years conducted estate sales and appraisals. For 17 years, Lauren authored “Offering from the Loft,” a column in the Grosse Pointe News, the newspaper her father, Robert B. Edgar, established in 1940. Lauren and her siblings owned the newspaper from his death in 1979 until 2007.

She thrived on creative endeavors, including writing, art, humor and original thinking. She appreciated beauty in all forms, including sunrises, flowers, music and flags blowing in the wind. Her senses were always on high alert. Lauren’s homes were filled with flowers throughout her life. She started painting in her late 70s and loved learning new things. She often remarked she was grateful for the blessings of sensitivity, creativity, common sense and the benefit of cleansing laughter and tears.

Lauren was a member of the Country Club of Detroit, Garden Club of Michigan and Tau Beta Association.

Lauren is survived by her husband of 62 years, Benjamin; children, Jill Chapman, Gay Kennary (James), Chip (Judy) and Clayton Chapman; and grandchildren, Hadley Kennary, Cole Milazzo (Kaitlyn), Ali Milazzo, Griffin Kennary and Sarah Chapman. She was predeceased by her parents, Geraldine Grinnell Parker and Robert B. Edgar; stepfather, Fredrick W. Parker Jr.; brother, Robert G. Edgar; and sisters, Gay Ahlgrim and Denny Gordon.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. Inurnment will take place at the Grosse Pointe Memorial Church columbarium and Lake Wallenpaupack, Pa.

It was Lauren’s wish that any memorial bequests be made to the Michigan Humane Society, michiganhumane.org; or The Salvation Army, salvationarmyusa.org; or Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Michigan, bgcsm.org; or Tau Beta Association, taubeta.org; or Michigan Garden Club, migardenclubs.org.

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