Jacquelyn Susan Chapman

Jacqueline Susan Rountree Chapman, age 72, of Savannah, Georgia, died November 19, 2023, at home after a long illness. Ms. Chapman was a “Telfair baby,” born at Telfair Hospital in Savannah, Georgia and living in the area her entire life. She was well-known for her creativity as an artist, a caterer, and most of all, for the joy she spread making people happy. Her outlandish sense of humor is legendary, and her zany take on life was a thing to behold.
No one could outdo Susan at setting the mood. She once covered her living room floor inches deep in artificial snow so “the children could have snow at Christmas.” After a 1990’s visit to FAO Schwartz, the famous toy store in New York, she realized that the “Barbie Room,” with its huge array of Doctor Barbie, Lawyer Barbie, Teacher Barbie, and the like, was missing a few versions, so she created a Barbie box set with to-scale beer bottles, wearing curlers in her hair, daisy dukes, sporting a black eye, leaning on her chopper bike, amid photos of her hero, Elvis.
She was famous for her wedding cake design and reception catering, whether it be a six-foot-wide wedding cake comprising beautiful, individual cakes connected by bridges and a moving stream of water, or a massive sheet cake decorated with realistic, icing portraits of local or national celebrities.
For Susan, everyone deserved that moment of joy only she could create. Her creations for a wide-ranging community were featured in the Savannah Morning News several times, including her detailed cake model of The Wailing Wall; her sugar, Easter egg dioramas - works of art made from sugar, framing idyllic scenes of bunnies, miniature eggs, and pastel flowers; as well as her first-place, gingerbread replica of The Cathedral of St. John’s. At the height of her career, some folks were denied service by other caterers, based on their preferences. Not so with Susan. And when Cabbage Patch Kid dolls – all the rage in the early 1980’s - came in only one color, Susan made them by hand for children from all groups, bringing delight to many who would never have been able to own the special doll that “looked like me,” without her.
Susan was a 1969 graduate of Herschel V. Jenkins High School, where she was most famous for winning WSGA radio station’s “Most Kissable Lips” contest with her mailed-in, voluptuous lip print. She wisely came to school the next day armed with huge bags of chocolate kisses for those who lined up for a “kiss.” From there, she attended Armstrong State College, where she met Ron Chapman, the love of her life.
Ms. Chapman was preceded in death by her parents, Edward Donald Rountree and Dorothy Ann Small Rountree.
She is survived by her husband of fifty-one years, Ronald Henry Chapman and their daughter, Amy Rose Chapman, both of Savannah; her sisters and brothers, Sally Rountree Klein, of Savannah, GA; Douglas Brian Rountree, of Livermore, CA; Lynn Rountree Fulcher and her husband, John Clifton Fulcher, Jr., of Guyton, GA; Leslie Leigh Rountree and her husband, David Alan Schneider, of Carrboro, NC; David Ashley Rountree, of Calgary, AB, Canada; her sister- and brother-in-law, Betty Ann Chapman Lichner and her husband, Jon A. Lichner, of Sandy Springs, GA; and a huge fan club of nieces, nephews, and their children.
A graveside service will be held at Hillcrest Abbey East, 1600 Wheaton Street, Savannah, GA 31405 on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, at noon. Memorial gifts may be made to the Humane Society, 7215 Sallie Mood Drive, Savannah, GA 31406 or at Humane Society for Greater Savannah (humanesocietysav.org)