EAST BATON ROUGE — The Chapman family was always in communication with each other, every single day. Gary Sr., 87, and Marianne Chapman, 83, had three sons, and even after they were grown, out of the house, and starting families of their own, Gary Jr., Steve, and Jeff, they always stayed in touch.
“They lived in Centerville, and they can get service at their house for about a mile. Then cell phone service disappears until they get too close to Clinton,” Gary Jr. explained. “So he would call us as he’s pulling out of the driveway, and we would talk until he lost signal, and then when he got signal, and he’d call us back, just pick up where he left off.”
But on Dec. 18, the Chapman men got a call they never expected to receive. “I get a phone call. It’s my mother, and I assumed it was them. That they got signal again. But her voice was faint, and she said, ‘Gary, we just had an accident,’” Gary Jr. recalled.
The crash
Gary Sr. and Marianne’s SUV crashed into the back of an 18-wheeler on Joor Rd. near Lovett Rd. in Central…