Lucien Cyril Kapp, artist and lifelong resident of Decatur and president of Kapp, Inc., passed away April 30, 2024, in his home.
Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Patrick Church, 407 E. Eldorado, at 11am on Wednesday, May 29. A prelude concert of hymns and anthems will be given 30 minutes prior to the Mass, which will be offered by Father Chris Comerford and Father Don Wolford. Cremation rites have been chosen. The family welcomes all who knew Lucien to stop by his home (5 Millikin Place) the night before, May 28th, from 5pm on.
Lucien was born in Decatur on June 25, 1933, the only child of Horace J. and Mildred (Beggs) Kapp. He married Brigitta Ursula Schallhammer, daughter of Dr. Alois and Theodora Schallhammer, in the Wahlfahrtskirche of Maria Lankowitz, Austria, on October 20, 1968. They were blessed with 55 years of loving union, which brought forth a son, a daughter, and eventually 6 grandchildren.
He attended Mary W. French and Woodrow Wilson, where he received the American Legion School Award. Lucien graduated with the Decatur High School Class of ‘51 as president of the student council. He chaired the council effort that brought the first A.F.S. foreign exchange student to Decatur from Naples, Italy, in 1950. That student, Dr. Guido Guidotti, became Chairman of Microbiology at Harvard and a world-acclaimed research scientist and educator. Lucien achieved Eagle Scout rank before his thirteenth birthday. He camped across much of western Europe in the summers of 1948 and 1949 with Troop 3 under the command of Captain Albert Webber Borchers and earned the best camper medal.
He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in advertising design from the University of Illinois in 1955, followed by Navy duty during 1956-57 on board the U.S.S. Castor AKS 1 ported in Yokosuka, Japan. His ship had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and during his tour sustained a nighttime collision with the aircraft carrier Lexington, rode out two typhoons, and rescued survivors of the S.S. Lepus, which sank north of Luzon, Philippines.
In 1959, he was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and graphics from the University of Illinois. His last graduate year, he studied with Lawrence Calcagno, visiting artist at the university, and in 1960 he joined the faculty of Millikin University’s Department of Art, giving instructions in painting and elementary design. He belonged to Beta Theta Pi fraternity, with his name added to its Wooglin plaque.
To view the complete obituary, visit
https://www.gracelandfairlawn.com/obituaries/Lucien-Kapp/#!/Obituary
