Paula Beaver Chipman, formerly of Newtown, Connecticut, died peacefully on May 28, 2017 in Bloomfield, Connecticut at the age of 84.Paula was born on July 5, 1932 in Champaign–Urbana, Illinois to Paul and Leila (West) Beaver and lived in Appleton, Wisconsin and Waycross, Georgia before moving as a teenager to New Orleans, Louisiana.
She graduated from Isadore Newman High School in 1950 and Newcomb College in 1954 (then the coordinate women’s college of Tulane University), majoring in Biology. She was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship in 1954 and followed in her father’s footsteps by doing her graduate work in parasitology. Paula received her Masters Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health in 1956.
She married David Chipman in 1955 and lived in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York before settling in Newtown, Connecticut in 1961 where they raised their four children. Paula began teaching at Western Connecticut State University in 1973 as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Biology & Environmental Sciences. She subsequently became an Associate Professor in that department and for many years served as the coordinator of the University’s Medical Technology program. She was a dedicated and popular professor who taught both microbiology and the art and science of working in a laboratory to thousands of students over her career.
When not teaching, she spent many happy summers at "the farm" in Chase Hollow in Bradford, Vermont playing games with her kids (and their friends), gardening, taking extended walks in search of wildlife and wildflowers, reading and hosting regular gatherings of family and friends out at the picnic table. Paula was a gracious and caring person who made everyone – from family members and longtime friends to new acquaintances – feel welcome, worthy, and cared for.
Paula is survived by her children, Paul S. Chipman and his wife Tracy of Fort Myers, Florida; Christine L. Chipman and her husband Barry Scheinberg of Bloomfield, Connecticut; Richard B. Chipman and his wife Liz of Concord, New Hampshire and John C. Chipman and his wife Michele of Newtown, Connecticut and seven exceptional and well-loved grandchildren, Paul, Renzie, Abby, Molly, Joe, Jordan and Meghan.
Her children, grandchildren and extended family and friends will remember Paula lovingly as a generous, kind and unwaveringly supportive woman with an easy and infectious laugh. She will be deeply missed. She was preceded in death by her dear friend and former sister-in-law Wendy Chipman of Durham, North Carolina and infant grandson Bennett David Chipman.
Interment will occur at a private ceremony in the Newtown Village Cemetery in Newtown, Connecticut at a later date.
Condolences can be sent to Honan Funeral Home (
http://www.honanfh.com). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc. 912 Killian Hill Road S.W., Lilburn, GA 30047 (
http://www.lewybodydementia.org/donate), or the American Horticultural Society, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308 (
https://connect.ahsgardening.org) Funeral Home.
[S5] Find A Grave, → Memorial ID 179858111.
1932 - 2017 (84 years)
. Paul Sidney CHIPMAN, b. 23 Aug 1956 (Age 68 years)
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