Harpswell mourns Irving Chipman, who died Friday at home
Beth_Brogan@TimesRecord.Com
03/06/2007
HARPSWELL — Irving F. Chipman, a beloved longtime resident of Harpswell who "lit up everyone's life," died Friday at his home on Allen Point Road, one day after his 85th birthday.

Many Harpswellians knew Chipman through his 60 years of service in the Harpswell Neck Fire Department — 32 of those years as chief. On Monday, Chipman's son, Ron, remembered growing up watching his dad head out on fire calls.

"Of course, every boy wants to be a fireman at some point in their life," Ron Chipman said. "As soon as we were old enough, we would say, 'Hey Dad, can I go?' He wouldn't want us to get in harm's way, but he'd say, 'Sure, jump in.' We grew up seeing him in that role."

Ron is now a captain in the Harpswell Neck Fire Department, and his brother, David, is also a member.

In fact, the Irving F. Chipman Station, which houses the Harpswell Neck Fire Department, was so named because, "There wasn't too much that happened that didn't start with him," longtime fire chief Nelson Barter said Monday.

"Irving was a first-class gentleman, and that isn't said about many men," said Shirley Thompson, who worked with Chipman on the first ambulance squad that started in 1957, using a retired hearse as an ambulance. "He always treated you with respect."

"Anyone who ever met him loved him," his son, David, said today. "He was just so disarming, charming, and soft-spoken. This community was central to his life. He lit up everyone's life. You could see the sunshine in him."

Born in Harpswell, Chipman lived in Poland until the age of 12, attending Poland Elementary School and Harpswell Center School. He graduated from Brunswick High School, then served in the U.S. Army. Following the end of World War II, he served in the military police in Germany.

On Oct. 1, 1949, he married Carolyn M. Allen.

Chipman was a member of the John Leo Murray Jr. American Legion Post 171, and fellow Legionnaire Dan Boland remembers him as a relentless recruiter to the post.

"The guy was a dynamo," Boland said. "I loved the guy. He was a very talented tradesman, friend, neighbor … he was a God-fearing, loving patriot. He was a contributor." Boland said Chipman visited bedridden veterans at Togus veterans hospital just last year. "He was a very sensitive, caring person. ... You could see in the patient's eyes the recognition, the acceptance, and that he cared enough to hold their hand. He was just a decent human being."

Ron Chipman said his father was greatly influenced by growing up in Depression-era rural Maine without many resources, and held on to those values throughout his life.

"He was resourceful, and with the very minute budget we had back then, we couldn't afford anything," Barter said of working for Chipman when he started at the fire department almost 28 years ago. "But he would find ways to make things happen."

Chipman worked for Glen Rollins Construction and later for Bowdoin College. His son, Michael, remembered that after his father retired as locksmith and head of carpentry at Bowdoin College, he and a friend who was an electrician took on "side jobs," and soon had more work than they could handle.

"He'd help out neighbors, anyone that needed anything," Michael Chipman said. "He'd tune up people's furnaces, run wiring for them, fix broken windows … right up until this winter, really, when he started getting sick, he was busy all the time."

As recently as last month, Chipman was helping people out. During the Valentine's Day snowstorm, Chipman saw a light on in the home of a neighbor who was living in an assisted living facility. Despite using an oxygen tank, he headed to the home to see what was wrong. Discovering the house was low on oil, he called the oil company to arrange for delivery, and then arranged for the neighbor's driveway to be sanded.

First and foremost, however, Irving Chipman was "a good family man," Ron Chipman said, and remained involved with his three sons, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. "We're all going to miss him."

Chipman's health began deteriorating this winter, and last week he went to Boston to see a neurologist, who confirmed a diagnosis of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. On Thursday, Ron Chipman said, the family received a call that he wasn't going to live through the day, and they rushed to his father's bedside. They found him sitting up in bed, talking, Ron said, but the rally was only temporary.

"He was brilliant, charming and gentle, and he enhanced the lives of everyone who will ever live in Harpswell, in ways that most may not even be aware," granddaughter Nicole Chipman said Monday. "Harpswell has lost a pillar, a friend, a savior ... a truly great man."