Dentist Vaughn Chapman Helped People Worldwide

Most of the year, dentist Vaughn Vickers Chapman served paying clients in the Northgate and Aurora Village areas.

But at least once a year he and his wife packed their suitcases, cameras and medical supplies and headed to the jungles and poor farm communities where the need for dental care was high and people's ability to pay was low.

His love of travel and desire to help people led him deep into Ecuador, Mexico, Haiti, India and Africa.

Sometimes he got more than he bargained for, as when soldiers in Ecuador seized some film, thinking his group of missionary dentists was spying for Peru. Other times he had to cope in filthy surroundings, or brush his teeth with Coca-Cola because the local water was bad.

He trained his wife as his assistant, and spoke Spanish he learned from a Jewish doctor who had fled Germany for Argentina.

"We did oral surgery in amazing conditions, on a table in a yard or a pigpen, and did demonstrations for dental societies," said Mildred Chapman, his wife of 48 years. "I held a flashlight when he worked at night, and sterilized river water in dishpans.

"We did work at the headwaters of the Amazon, and stayed in dugouts in Mexico . . . for some of these people it was the only time in their life they would see a dentist."

Dr. Chapman died Monday (Feb. 2) of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. He was 76.

The Seattle native's early role model was his father, a railroad civil engineer who traveled for his work and helped design the Aurora Bridge piers in 1930 before moving the family to Evanston, Ill.

Dr. Chapman finished school in Evanston, then studied two years in the same class as the Rev. Billy Graham at Illinois' Wheaton College. He earned his dentistry degree in 1944 from the University of Illinois, subsequently becoming a dental surgeon in the Army Air Forces.

After returning to Seattle and starting a practice, he wanted to use his skills in Christian outreach work.

"In 1950, he opened the first office in Northgate Medical Building before the mall was built," said his brother Kyle Chapman, a surgeon living in Lakebay, Pierce County. "That year he also formed Worldwide Dental Health service, locally called Missionary Dentists. These dentists work in Third World countries.

"There were at the time almost no dentists who worked in mission hospitals. There were lots of doctors, but no dentists."

In 1965, Dr. Chapman moved his office to Aurora Village Medical Center. He retired in 1989.

"He was a real businessman," said his daughter, Melissa Chapman of Shoreline. "He went to a lot of churches and talked to a lot of people about his ministry, raised money for it, and was on the KCIS Christian radio station. We had a little studio in our house, and he would go on every Sunday and talk to people over the radio, telling what he did."

KCIS-630 AM is sponsored by CHRISTA Ministries, a nondenominational evangelical group.

Dr. Chapman's love of adventure extended to outdoor sports. He used to hike and camp, and also enjoyed snow skiing and water skiing.

In 1988, he earned the title "Man of the Year" from the Washington Academy of General Dentistry.

He also is survived by his brother, Dr. Zerne Chapman of Seattle.

Services have been held.

Remembrances may go to the Missionary Dentists (for building clinics in Third World countries), P.O. Box 7002, Seattle, WA 98133.

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is: cbee-new@seatimes.com