John and Peggy Chapple

John (Bumper) and Peggy Chapple celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with family on Feb. 24, 2018.

Growing up in Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, New York, John and Peggy met in the seventh grade. They were high school sweethearts and got married at Trudeau Chapel in Saranac Lake, New York in 1968.

John enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp and was fighting in Vietnam when Peggygave birth to their first child. When he returned home, they packed up their Volkswagen Bug and towed a tent trailer from New York to Alaska.

Arriving in Homer in 1970, they camped at the end of the Homer Spit and both found work at Alaskan Seafoods cannery. They purchased the Homer Spit Campground in 1974 and it remains their family business.

John and Peggy have four children and 15 grandchildren. Daughters Stephanie Pitzman (husband Ian), Jennifer Waltenbaugh (Eric), Elysha Chapple (Chris) live in Homer. Their son, JC (wife Oceana) currently lives in Boulder, Colorado and spends summers in Homer.

Planning to retire this year, the Chapples will travel around the country in their motorhome visiting friends and family. They will also enjoy more time at their Caribou Lake cabin and on their favorite Hawaiian island of Kauai. John and Peggy are members of the American Legion Post 16, Homer Elks Club, Homer Senior Center, Homer Chamber of Commerce, Pratt Museum, Homer Council on the Arts, VFW/Marine Corp League.