David Wellington Chappell
February 02, 1940 - December 02, 2004
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David Wellington Chappell
February 02, 1940 - December 02, 2004
Obituary
David Wellington Chappell 64
David Wellington Chappell died of heart failure on December 2, 2004 in Laguna Hills, California. He was a well-known teacher-scholar in Buddhist Studies and the principal founder of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies 1987, as well as the founding editor of this Society’s journal, Buddhist-Christian Studies. He received his BA degree from Mount Allison University, his BD from McGill University, and his Ph.D. in history of religions from Yale University. David’s academic specialty was Chinese Buddhist tradition, where he published significant work on the T?ien-t?ai Buddhism, including Buddhist and Taoist Practice in Medieval Chinese Society and T?ien-tai Buddhism: An Outline of the Four-fold Teachings, Buddhist Peace Work: Creating Cultures of Peace, and Unity in Diversity: Hawaii’s Buddhist Communities. He was Emeritus Professor of Religion at the University of Hawaii, where he taught for twenty-eight years, before assuming a position as Professor of Comparative Studies at Soka University of America in 2000. Always interested in balancing scholarship and teaching, David was the recipient of a number of grants in support of his work, including the Hung-Wo and Elizabeth Lao Ching Foundation, the University of Hawaii Institute for Peace, the Japanese Studies Foundation, The Niwano Peace Foundation Tokyo, and the Lilly Foundation. In the last few years of his life he was also actively engaged in Buddhist-Muslim dialogue in Asia, Europe, and North America, working with Dharma Master Hsin Tao, founder of the Museum of World Religions in Taiwan.
David is survived by his wife Stella Chappell, daughters Cindy Rice Las Vegas, Laura Demitria, Gwen Demitria, Jeannie Barnes, and son Mark Chappell California. He is also survived by five grandchildren and his brother, Gordon Chappell Canada.
A celebration of David’s life will be held in Founder’s Hall at Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, Saturday, December 11, 2004 at 2:00 PM.
The following services will also be held in addition to the service at Soka University:
A service for David will be held at the Honpa Hongwanji Mission, Honolulu, HI, December 27, 2004, at 7 pm.
A Celebration of David’s life will be held during the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies Seventh International Conference at Loyola Marymont University, Los Angeles, CA, June 3-8, 2005.
33 responses to David Wellington Chappell
Tokiyuki Nobuhara says:
December 10, 2004
Dear Stella and family,
hihoo uke
aitoo setsusetsu
fuyu kanashi
receiving sad news
deep condolences in heart
winter sobs bitterly
Since Buddhist-Christian conference in Hawaii and my 1983 essay on Principles for Interpreting Christ/Buddha I have had blessed occasions of exchanging ideas by correspondence and orally with David, a great mind and heart.
God/Eternal Buddha be with you in this difficult time!
Toki
Tom Brown says:
December 10, 2004
Stella and Family:
The passing of David W. Chappell is a great loss to all of us who knew him as both a close friend and colleague. His wry wit and humor coupled with his enduring spirit probed and penetrated the persona of us all. He talked, practiced, and traversed the difficult road to peace for everyone that he met. The message of peace and understanding traveled with him wherever he went and to whomever he talked–no matter what the conversation. David was all about peace, understanding, and forgiveness. That was his message to us all.
When informed of his illness, I prayed for his speedy recovery. On the notification of his passing, I immediately felt the loss and vacuum left by his absence. He was truly a great person, he lives on in me, and I am certain that he lives on in everyone. Stella, I thank you for sharing him with all of us. My wife Noi and I thank you, David: everyone that knew you or met you parted from you with peace and a sense that justice for all is possible. I know that you are in eternal peace with your Buddha and my God! I can say that I loved you as a friend and brother and I am greatly grieved by your parting.
Tom & Pornlapat Brown
William Cullinan says:
December 11, 2004
Dear Stella and Family,
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. I first met Dr. Chappell in Taiwan. I am very grateful that he was my advisor when I studied religion at the University of Hawaii. I will always remember his wonderful classes, working as his TA, his extremely patient, empathetic understanding as I struggled with new material in Budhist Studies, along with many fascinating conversations. After leaving Hawaii, I was always happy to see him at various conferences. There are not words to express his great contribution to Buddhist Studies, Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, and his congeniality. I want to express my deepest condolences to all of you.
Phat Vu says:
December 12, 2004
David, you are loved and beloved. I love you because your heart is always in the right place, always solid, always capacious, always open. You always said the right things to me to lift up my spirits.
You knew everyone, but not everyone knew you, knew the kid that was inside you; because of this, you were sometimes misjudged, misunderstood, but you took all that with grace and without bitterness.
I must confess my selfishness in luring you to Dave & Buster’s video arcade that one time. The imp of the perverse in me wanted to see a man of peace, such as you, hold a gun, albeit a fake, plastic one. I’m so glad, that like a kid, you enjoyed shooting down digital zombies to save digital humans in a digital House of the Dead.
But the cancer you faced at the age of 23, the effects of which you had to struggle with for 41 years, made you more than just a kid. It made you a fighter who appreciated every extra day he had, who never wasted time’your mind, always working on multiple levels, always connecting’your hands, always taking notes, organizing’your walk, never leisurely. You never wasted time weighing in on the side of the underdog. You never wasted time speaking out against unfairness and injustice.
The last day I saw you, the last day you were on campus, you didn’t want to waste time recovering from feeling ill; rather, you insisted on spending time with my students, teaching and learning and asking to come back next time to listen in on our discussions. I felt you there with us that next time, David, in our dedication and our humor.
Stella tells me you were cheerful to the very last’you sharing in a joke as to whether you had regained consciousness in a world where John Kerry is president.
To me, you were the Sultan of the Segue, David. I wish I could think of a segue, now, worthy of you. David, you are loved and beloved.
Elizabeth J Harris says:
December 13, 2004
To all David’s family
My deepest condolences to you at this time of great loss.
I was shocked and saddened to hear of David’s death. I was first in contact with him in 1985 when I was applying to the World Council of Churches for a scholarship to study Buddhism. The East-West Project at the University of Hawaii was one of my choices. David was tremendously encouraging. But it was to Sri Lanka that I eventually went, not Hawaii. Yet, since that time, I have appreciated David’s work from afar. It was a joy to be asked by him to contribute to Sulak Sivaraksa’s felicitation volme and a joy to meet him, most recently at the Barcelona Parliament of the World’s Religions.
David’s contribution to Buddhist-Christian understanding and, since the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, to Buddhist-Muslim was understanding immmense. I pray that his enthusiasm and commitment for people of different religions working together for peace continues will live on in the lives of those who new him. For the world desperately needs this.
With metta
Elizabeth Harris