World War II photographer dies at 81
Glenn Kappelman
Soldier, photographer, documentarian, historian, stamp collector, arborist, real estate broker, and devoted father — Glenn Kappelman was a true Renaissance man.
The near-lifelong Lawrence resident and World War II veteran died Thursday at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was 81.
Kappelman was a prominent figure in Lawrence all his adult life, but he was probably best known for a series of photographs he took surreptitiously as a 22-year-old gunner in the waning days of World War II.
Pfc. Kappelman of the 106th Cavalry hid a Kodak camera in his gas mask and took it with him on his tour of duty through Europe in 1944 and ’45, in violation of Army rules.
He told the Journal-World in 1999 that he wanted to document his experiences.
“I knew it would be the biggest adventure I would ever get in,” he said.
He took 750 photographs as he traveled through France, Germany and Austria.
“There probably weren’t many GIs at the time who had a complete record of their whole experience,” said nephew Clay Kappelman.
The pictures would later become an important part of the documentary record of the war. They provided the basis for a 1999 documentary called “Through My Sights: A Gunner’s View of World War II,” directed by Lawrence filmmaker Linda Haskins, which featured the reminiscences of Kappelman and one of his Army buddies, Art Barkis, of Texas.
The documentary aired on KTWU in Topeka and several PBS television stations across the country. Its success led to the publication in 2003 of a book by the same name, which contained Kappelman’s war pictures along with his diary entries, letters and reminiscences from the war.
“I consider it a great honor to have worked with him,” said Haskins, who edited the book.
Kappelman saw action in Europe, but his memories were mostly positive ones.
“It was a grand adventure,” he told the Kansas City Star in 2000. “I came through it with not so much as a broken fingernail.”
Clay Kappelman said his uncle’s seemingly cavalier attitude about the war may have been a way to mask his anxieties.
“That’s how he chose to deal with it,” Clay Kappelman said. “In order to get through it, he had to look at it as an adventure, and hopefully he’d return.”
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After the war, Kappelman returned to Lawrence and entered the real estate business. He was a partner at Calvin-Eddy-Kappelman Insurance and Real Estate for many years before his retirement.
“He was respected greatly by the other Realtors in town,” said Bill Eddy, Kappelman’s longtime business partner. “He really cared about the people he worked with, and that was why he got a lot of referral business.”
When not selling houses, Kappelman was collecting stamps, a hobby he had since boyhood, or indulging his love for the city of Lawrence and its history.
He collected historical documents from the early days of the city. In 1990, he and his son Matt produced a collection of early lithographs and panoramic maps of early Lawrence.
Love of Lawrence
His love for Lawrence, where he had lived since the age of 10, kept him active in civic affairs all his adult life, along with his wife, Betty, said Clay Kappelman. Kappelman worked with the Lawrence Democrats, Chamber of Commerce, Kansas University Alumni Association, Watkins Community Museum and Lawrence Arts Center, among others. He was also active at First Methodist Church and in Sigma Phi Epsilon.
“There probably weren’t very many meetings going on in town that he wasn’t at or supposed to be at,” said Clay Kappelman.
Daughter Melanie Kappelman, of Mission Hills, also remembers that her father in his younger days was a modern-day “Johnny Appleseed,” planting trees throughout Lawrence.
Family man
But Melanie Kappelman said that civic concerns always took a back seat to family concerns for her father. He was “crazy” about his granddaughter, Carlisle, Melanie said.
“Growing up, I was always proud of his community involvement,” Melanie Kappelman said. “But even as busy as he was with those things, I still felt like we were important, like we were number one.”
Kappelman graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Kansas University in 1948, and received a Master’s in Political Science from KU in 1950. He married Betty Lloyd in 1953. They had three children — Mark, now deceased; Matthew, who lives in Lawrence; and Melanie. Glenn and Betty Kappelman lived in the same house in Lawrence since the early 1950s.
Kappelman suffered a stroke in 1999, which left his vision impaired, after undergoing triple bypass surgery.
Funeral services are pending and will be announced by Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.
“He’ll be missed by a lot of people,” Eddy said.