Obituary of Johnny Chapman Caldwell

Johnny Chapman Caldwell departed this life peacefully in his home in Bedford, VA, on November 4, 2019. He was 90.

Johnny was born November 15, 1928 in Bluefield, WV. He spent his early life as a solitary, unlicensed squirrel hunter in the mountains near his beloved Iaeger, WV. As a teenager, he delivered groceries and newspapers, unloaded boxcars, and served as a call boy for the Norfolk and Western Railway. At 17, he generously offered to house-sit for his parents when they went on vacation. The day they left, he joined the army using forged documents and got on the bus to basic training in Fort Polk, Louisiana without telling anyone.

He served briefly in the United States’ occupational forces in Japan before returning to Guam where he contracted pneumonia. He was then “hospitalized for so long that he became a medic”.  He then returned to Iaeger where he received his high school diploma and married Jane Walters on May 29, 1949. He was late to the ceremony but she married him anyway. He was recalled to the Korean Conflict in 1950, where he served as a medic at Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, and later trained future medics in Fort Meade, Maryland.  In total, he served over five years in the U.S. Army. 

He spent his career working for independent telephone companies GTE and Continental Telephone.  In his retirement years, he was a loyal and valued part-time employee of Updike Funeral Home & Cremation Service.  He was a past commander of the American Legion post # 8, and a member of the Forty and Eight, and the veterans of foreign wars in Welch, WV.

Johnny was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He had 9,000 hobbies. He enjoyed drawing, photography, woodworking, golfing, watching stock car races, traveling, motor-homing, poker, horseshoes, and solving household electrical problems. He knew his way around a shuffleboard court. He could dance when the occasion called for it.

He described the happiest moments of his life as his marriage and the birth of his three children. He thanked the Lord every day for the family and life he had.  Johnny and Jane celebrated 70 years of marriage this year. 

He was preceded in death by his mother Sue, his father Charles, and his daughter Nancy. He is survived by his wife Jane, sons David and Mark, daughters-in-law Tersa and Sarah, and grandchildren Jonathan, Ted, Emily, and Julie. 

Should friends desire, contributions may be sent to Blue Ridge Community Church - Build Bedford Fund, 2361 New London Rd. Forest, VA 24551. 

The family will receive friends beginning at 12 noon on Saturday, November 9, 2019 at Updike Funeral Chapel, Bedford and a funeral service, with military honors will follow at 2:00 pm with Rev. Wayne Murphy officiating.  Interment at Holy Land Cemetery will be private.  Arrangements are being handled by Updike Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Bedford.