{"id":8984,"date":"2026-08-03T11:03:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.attlc-ltac.org\/?p=8984"},"modified":"2026-08-03T11:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:05:05","slug":"gerald-jerry-chapple-1937-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.attlc-ltac.org\/en\/gerald-jerry-chapple-1937-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerald (Jerry) Chapple \u2014 1937-2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gerald Chapple passed away at age 87, surrounded by loving family, at Vassar Brothers Hospital, in Poughkeepsie, New York. Gerald was born in Montreal, to the late Francis Pitts Chapple and Irene Alexandra (Bishop) Chapple. In 1952, the family moved from Thunder Bay to Hamilton, where Gerald attended Delta High School and then McMaster University, graduating in 1960 with a BA in German and French. Inspired by working at the Canadian Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World Fair and by studying at the University of Munich, Gerald went on to earn his Ph.D. in German Literature from Harvard University. As a graduate student in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Jerry, as he was known, taught Nina Perkins, who was earning her MA in Art and Architecture History at Harvard. In 1964, Jerry and Nina married and lived in Germany before settling in Dundas, Ontario, for more than 50 years. They recently moved to Rhinebeck, New York. Over his 36 years as a professor at McMaster University, Jerry shared with students and colleagues his lifelong enthusiasm for language, literature, philosophy, and culture, focusing on German while drawing on his knowledge of French, Italian, Ancient Greek, and Latin. He was a member of the Modern Language Association, American Literary Translation Association, and Literary Translation Association of Canada. A prolific translator of contemporary German writing into English, he completed 100 plus poems by G\u00fcnter Kunert and, just last month, his tenth crime novel by Swiss-Canadian author, Bernadette Calonego. Jerry’s interests ranged widely, birds counted daily for Cornell Ornithology, plants and trees always known by Latin names, butterflies and insects photographed in detail, classical music instantly recognized by composer and title, opera, Dave Brubeck, Kandinsky, Tom Lehrer, Monty Python, authors from Alice Munro to Bertolt Brecht, long-form jokes, and his beloved Blue Jays, Montr\u00e9al Canadiens, and Buffalo Bills. In addition to his loving wife, Nina, Jerry is survived by his children, Alexander (Mala) and Sarah; as well as by his four younger siblings, Judy, Harvey (Chris), Elizabeth Heersink (John), and Kathleen Maude; along with nieces and nephews in Vancouver and Boulder; and dear friends throughout Canada, the U.S., and Europe. Grandchildren, Zara and Harry, provided infinite pride and delight to Jerry.<\/p>\n

Orbituary by The Hamilton Spectator<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>