JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Edward Waters College was in mourning Thursday after a traumatic week that included the deaths of two prominent members of its staff just a day apart.
Glen Chapman, a coaching veteran in the area at the high school level and as an assistant football coach for the Tigers, became ill at practice Wednesday and later died at a hospital.
Chapman, who played at Ribault and went on to play offensive line and graduate from Bethune-Cookman, was well-known throughout the First Coast. He was also a math teacher at Cedar Creek Christian. News4Jax was told he celebrated his 42nd birthday at the beginning of this month.
Chapman’s death came a day after EWC lost another member of its staff, photographer Eric Daniel Johnson, a man whom head football coach Greg Ruffin called “Mr. Edward Waters College.” Johnson was found unresponsive in his house, the school said.
“It’s rough to be honest with you, we’re handling it the best way we can,” said Joshua C. Jackson, sports information director at EWC. “We have to rally around each other the best way we can. It’s been a rough couple of days. These two guys really meant a lot to this school. It’s been tough for me personally. I’ve had a hard time sleeping these last couple days.”
Ruffin said Chapman was an invaluable asset to him with the Tigers because of his deep connections to the area and his relationships across the board.
“In making hires, I wanted to make sure I had people who knew the lay of the land, who kids respected and he was definitely one of those cats that everyone knew,” Ruffin said. “Kids and coaches knew him, respected him.”
He said Chapman, an offensive line coach, was one of the first coaches he hired when he started at EWC.
"We’ve all been in this thing roughly about 16 months together, but he had a great big impact in all of what we did thus far," Ruffin said.
Menendez coach Kyle Skipper, who coached alongside Chapman in 2017 with the Falcons, said that Chapman was a great coaching mind and had a personality that matched his size.
“Enthusiastic. There was never a doubt when Coach Chapman was coming to work that he was going to bring natural energy. He brought that to practice, to game night. He was a pleasure to be around," he said.
Johnson, an EWC graduate, was the director of the Communities in Schools of Jacksonville, a program meant to empower students to stay in school and succeed in life.
Ruffin said Johnson was everywhere around campus, camera in hand, to capture moments that spanned sports to renovations.
“Eric was a great guy. He was like Mr. Edward Waters College,” he said. “He loved this school, man, he loved this school. He came on football trips and he did all of this at his own expense. ... He helped a lot of kids get jobs. He was just phenomenal.”
Causes of death were not announced. The college is holding a candlelight vigil at 9 p.m. Friday to remember Johnson and Chapman. It will be on the Centennial Lawn in front of the student union building.