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Lapham -- Colonel Wendell Edward Funeral service for Colonel Wendell Edward Lapham, 87, will be Tuesday, December 3, 2002 at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Baggett and Summers Funeral Home, 736 S. Beach Street with the Reverend Donn Dobberstein, Pastor of Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Port Orange Officiating. Friends may call at the funeral home from 1:00 p.m. until service time. Colonel Lapham a resident of Daytona Beach, Florida for the past three years and a resident of Inverness, Florida for 23 years, died at home on November 30, 2002 from cancer with his family by his side. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Eva; his three daughters, Drs. Gwen and husband, Steven Alcorn, Inverness, Fl; Dr. Sandra Lapham and former husband, Dr. Gary Simpson, Albuquerque, NM; Dr. Diane Lapham, Daytona Beach, Fl; grandchildren, Matthew Alcorn, Andrew Alcorn, Cassandra Lapham-Simpson, Courtney Lapham-Simpson, and Ava Lapham; a brother, Everett; and a sister, Frances, who both reside in Wolfeboro, NH; many nieces and nephews; his friend, Thel Marquez; and his caregiver, Juanita Hagar. He was preceded in death by his parents, Emma Parker Taylor and Arthur Thomas Lapham; and brothers, Donald and Arnold. Col. Lapham was born in Carlisle, Massachusetts, on October 5, 1915, and graduated in 1937 with a major in economics. He was a major in the R.O.T.C., class president, president of the student senate, a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, and lettered in football, track, and baseball. He was listed in the 1937,"Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges." He enlisted in the United States Army in 1942. As a captain he fought in WWII with the 692nd Tank Destroyer battalion Ground Command in France, Austria, and Germany. Its motto was,"Seek, Search, and Destroy." For his heroic and meritorious achievement against an armed enemy he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He was married to Eva Youngblut, a nurse in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, on July 15, 1945 by the mayor of Paris in City Hall, Champs Elysee, and again the next day by the Army Chaplain,"just to be sure it's legal." After the war they settled in Detroit, Michigan, where Col. Lapham was employed by the National Casualty Insurance Company, earning the title of Vice President, and was retired in 1973. He was active in the U.S. Army Reserves, was promoted to the rank of Colonel and was retired on his birthday in 1975. He will be missed sorely and remembered always for his love of music and skill as a drummer, his quick wit an wry sense of humor, and his unending devotion to his family. He will be buried with military honors in the National Cemetery. Messages of condolences may be e-mailed to BandSFamilies@aol.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Baggett and Summers Funeral Home and Crematory, Daytona Beach.
        Published on: Mon December 02, 2002