Sept. 13, 1927 ~ July 17, 2026
Della Mae Chapman, 98, went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Friday, July 17, 2026.
Born Sept. 13, 1927, in a dugout on her grandparents' farm in Lamb County, the daughter of Owen and Gracie Ball, she and her family worked hard to survive the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. She graduated from Littlefield High School in 1945. Soon after, while working in a local drug store, she met young Marine Jimmie Chapman who was returning from three years in the WWII Pacific theater. They married on August 13, 1946, starting their life together that would last 57 years until Jimmie passed in 2002. That union produced three children that kept Della busy until the end. She never stopped looking out for her children.
In 1961, Jimmie and Della made their home in Dimmitt, TX, where they lived until moving to Pomona, CA, in 2000. In 2005, following Jimmie's passing, she moved to Azle, TX. Della was a certified descendant of Austin's Old Three Hundred, grantees who purchased Mexican land between 1823 and 1825. These were the first settlers from the U.S. in Texas. Della loved her country and paid close attention to everything going on in the world right up to her final days.
Her parents; husband; five siblings, Evelyn McBee, James Ball, Alvin Ball, Bobby Ball, and Morris Ball; and one grandson, James Leinen, also precede her in death.
Surviving are one daughter, Margaret Ruecker of Weatherford, TX; two sons, John Henry Chapman of Ventura, CA, and Duke Chapman of Pensacola, FL; one brother, Max Ball of Hot Springs Village, AR; three grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and 17 nieces and nephews, including Lonnie Stafford of Denver, CO.
Celebration of life services were held Sunday, July 26, 2026, at Biggers Funeral Home Chapel in Lake Worth, TX. Committal services were held Wednesday afternoon, July 29, 2026, at Littlefield Cemetery, in Littlefield, TX.