Dr. Alf J. Mapp, Jr.

Dr. Alf Johnson Mapp, Jr., 85, a noted author, historian, and Eminent Scholar Emeritus of English at Old Dominion University, died Sunday, January 23, 2011, in a Suffolk nursing facility. Dr. Mapp was born in Portsmouth, VA on February 17, 1925, the son of Alf J. Mapp, Sr., who served as Portsmouth superintendent of schools 1950-1965 and Lorraine Carney Mapp, a teacher. He attended Port Norfolk Elementary School and Woodrow Wilson High School, where he graduated in 1941. He was an outstanding student who participated in many activities at Wilson, where he captained the debate team and edited the school newspaper. He helped represent Wilson High at Boys State, where he was chef justice. After attending the College of William and Mary as a Grayson Scholar, where he was a finalist in the multi-state speaking contest, he became editorial page editor of the Portsmouth Star in the 1940s. He had written for them as a college student and had been a published writer since childhood. He also hosted a news analysis program on a Portsmouth radio station. In the early 1950s, he became an assistant editor for The Virginian -Pilot, which he left in the late 1950s to work as a freelance writer and finish his bachelors degree in English at the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary now Old Dominion University, where he graduated in 1961 and started teaching that fall. He taught until 1992, starting out as a lecturer and retiring as Eminent Scholar Emeritus of English. He taught British and American literature, journalism, creative writing, and Virginia history. Thousands of students enjoyed his fine lectures and the concern he showed. During the time he was working as a journalist he also was a freelance for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Dr. Mapp who received an honorary doctorate of letters from ODU in 2006, and serving as a professor, and until shortly before his death, was also writing books. His first book, The Virginia Experiment, was published in 1957. His other books include: Frock Coats and Epaulets 1963; America Creates Its Own Literature 1965; Just One Man 1968; The Golden Dragon 1974; Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity 1987; Thomas Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim 1989; Bed of Honor his only novel 1996; Three Golden Ages 1998; and Faiths of our Fathers 2003. With his wife of 39 years, Dr. Ramona H. Mapp, who died on January 8, 2011, he co-authored two editions of Portsmouth: A Pictorial History. Dr. Ramona Mapp was a great partner who was a professor of English and Chair of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Portsmouth Campus of Tidewater Community College, as well as a leader in civic and cultural organizations, who chaired the Portsmouth Library Board and was president of Young Audiences of Virginia. Dr. Alf Mapp, Jr., was also active in many civic and cultural organizations. He chaired the Portsmouth Bicentennial Commission and the Portsmouth Museum and Fine Arts Commission and was president of the Portsmouth Historical Society and the Poetry Society of Virginia, and a member of the James Towne Society. Dr. Mapp served on many boards and received the Portsmouth Young Man of the Year Award and the Liberty Bell Award. He was honored as a Portsmouth Notable in 1987 and was listed in many reference books, including Who's Who in the World. He loved Portsmouth, where he lived until 2009, when he moved to Lake Prince Woods Retirement Community in Suffolk. He was a proud thirteenth generation Virginian and American, and enjoyed sharing the lives of Virginian and American heroes with readers. Dr. Mapp was a noted public speaker, addressing local, state, and national audiences, and also was frequently on radio and television. He hosted a program on Virginia history on WAVY-TV in the 1970s. He was a devoted father, husband, relative, and friend who enjoyed music and theatre, as well as a wide variety of literature. Predeceased by his parents and his former wife, Hartley Lockhart Mapp, he is survived by his son, Alf Johnson Mapp, III of Portsmouth, as well as stepsons Gregory Stuart Hamby wife Linda Moon of Kitty Hawk, N.C., and Geoffrey Alan Hamby wife Pamela Thurman of Falls Church, VA, and step granddaughter Ramona Hamby Tyabut husband Constantin Tyabut of Kitty Hawk and step grandsons Christopher Malcolm Hamby and Nicholas Conner Hamby of Falls Church. The family would like to thank Dr. Mapp's aides and caregivers: Helen Ratcliff, his longtime research assistant; Denise Fortune of Senior Corp; chef Casey Hoxter; and Katrina Britt, Melinda Eubanks, Stephanie Kazouris, Shantel Weathers, Lisa Scott, and Cheri Lane, all of Home Instead of Suffolk, which is co-owned and managed by Nell and Larry Neal. Dr. Mapp, a former member of Port Norfolk Baptist Church, was a member of Churchland Baptist Church, and West End Baptist Church, whose congregations and pastors, the Rev. Lawrence Coleman and the Rev. Dr. Skip Irby, the family thanks, as well as thanking Rev. Dr. Woodie Rea and the Lake Prince Woods community. Donations may be made in Dr. Mapp's memory to either of these churches, as well as to Friends of the ODU Library and the College of William and Mary. Funeral services will be held at Churchland Baptist Church, 3031 Churchland Blvd., Chesapeake, VA 23321, on Wednesday, January 26, at 1 P.M., by the Rev. Lawrence Coleman. Visitation will be held from 11:30 to 12:30 at the church preceding the funeral. Burial will follow in the church's cemetery. Loving Funeral Home is handling the services