Len Chappell’s heart never left Portage, Pa., despite his extensive travels throughout the country, and now his heart will remain permanently in his home area

… buried in Blue Knob near his childhood home

I've been there before because his sister is buried there. It's on top of a hill. It's beautiful there. I was just really impressed when we were there when his sister was buried on the side of the mountain. I always loved it there. I found out all of his brothers are buried there. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

Joanne Chappell, widow of Len Chappell

Len Chappell traversed the country during his life, an odyssey that was propelled by his excellence in basketball. However, as he started to reminisce in his later years, the most accomplished athlete in Portage High School history always discussed the joy of his formative years in Portage.

After his four years playing college basketball in Winston-Salem (N.C.) and his 11 in the N.B.A., Chappell settled in Milwaukee, where he started a successful business with his wife, Joanne.

Nevertheless, when Portage named its basketball facility “Len Chappell Gymnasium” in the early years of the 21st Century, he was so touched that in an interview with me he choked up with emotion.

That may seem incongruous to contemporary athletes. After all, he was a basketball player who became a two-time All-American at Wake Forest University, the first consensus player to do so, and who was named the ACC Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons.

And in his senior year, he led the Demon Deacons to the Final Four for the first — and only — time in their history. He also still holds the ACC record for scoring average in a career at 30.1 — more than one of the greatest players ever, Michael Jordan [University of North Carolina and the Chicago Bulls].

However, as I wrote in my blog posting when Len passed away last July, what I will always remember about him was his humility.

[I have reposted that below.]

Returned to his roots last week

Len, who passed away a year ago, returned him for the final time. 

As Mike Mastovich wrote last Friday in an excellent, touching article in the Tribune-Democrat, Joanne Chappell decided to bring Len’s remains back to his roots and be buried near Blue Knob, close to the family home in the Martindale area of Portage Township.

On Saturday morning, Chappell will return home to Portage one final time.

His widow, Joanne, and Chappell's family will have his cremated ashes buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery near Blue Knob, where members of Chappell's family also are buried. The Chappell family also will visit Portage High School, where the gymnasium is named in Len Chappell's honor.

Mike Mastovich, Tribune-Democrat, July 5, 2019

So, Len’s heart will be back near his Cambria County roots, something that would have pleased him immeasurably.

Roots in Martindale

The legendary story was that Len developed his shot, which had a very level trajectory, in the barn on the family farm. His father was a coal miner, according to his obituary in the New York Times last year. Regardless of where he developed it, it was soft and accurate, the result of spending so much time in the barn, I assume.

I interviewed him twice on the phone and once in person over a period of about 15 years, and was impressed by his kindness and humility. He thanked God for giving him the physical skills to compete at such a high level, and he also thanked those in his family and those who worked to coach him over the years.

In addition, he related a story that showed that despite his excellence on the basketball court, the family did not have a great deal of money in his formative years. He told of trying to find his way home to Portage from Winston-Salem. He was able to secure a ride to Bedford, Pa., reaching the turnpike. However, once there, he had no way of reaching Portage.

What did he do? He hitchhiked, thumbed a ride home. Here was a future All-American and NBA All-Star who had to hitchhike home because of finances. He was not upset with that, just said that he told his two sons, Jason and John, both of whom played Div. I basketball, about that situation. He said that they were incredulous about it, thinking that perhaps he was making it up before later realizing that the story was true.

Health issues later in life

When I first interviewed Chappell for a story in the Tribune-Democrat about 20 years ago, he was great, reminiscing, talking with me about my dad, who referred some of his games and whom he knew since my dad worked in Portage.

At that time, he could remember the minute details of his life at every stage, and it was a fascinating story. The second time, when Portage dedicated its gym to Len in 2004, he had suffered a stroke and could not remember all of those details.

However, in each case, he spoke from the heart, the one that really never left Portage.

According to the Times’ obituary, Len suffered in his final months.

Len Chappell, an All-American at Wake Forest who became an N.B.A. All-Star forward with the Knicks in the early 1960s, died on Thursday at a hospice in Oconomowoc, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee. He was 77.

His wife, Joanne, said he underwent surgery for a brain hemorrhage incurred in a fall at the family home, in Waterford, Wis., in April, then had a stroke and pneumonia.

Richard Goldstein, July 15, 2018

Remembered in the 21st Century

My friend for many years, Earl Sease, a retired teacher from Portage Area who has prepared exhibits on the greatest athletes from Portage, told Mike Mastovich some interesting things about Chappell,

The one that captured my attention was this,

You'd be surprised – when I was teaching – how many students never had heard of Len Chappell until we named the gymnasium after him.

Earl Sease, quoted in the Tribune-Democrat

However, after naming the gymnasium where every student takes physical education and plays sports, the youngsters started realizing just how good Len Chappell was.

"He was the only professional athlete we ever produced," Sease said. "His success at Wake Forest is still being talked about at Wake Forest. He played 11 years in the pros. When the (Portage High School) students learned that he was a first-team All-American and he played 11 seasons in professional basketball – 10 in the NBA and one in the ABA – that gets their attention."

He recalled Chappell's visit to the school in 2012, when all of Portage's boys and girls basketball 1,000-point scorers were honored.

"He never forgot that he was a hometown boy and probably the finest athlete we ever produced here, at least in my lifetime," Sease said. "We're trying to make the students aware of him.

Earl Sease, quoted in the Tribune-Democrat

Conclusion

So, Len Chappell’s heart has returned to his roots, and that has called attention to his tremendous contribution to the legacy of great people from Portage. It was touching of his family to return to the area for that, and it certainly helped the youngsters realize what a great athlete was once in their presence.