Peter Chapa passed peacefully at his home in Hebbronville, Texas, on July 10, 2025. He ws 86.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Pedro and Beatriz Chapa and his sister Maria Chapa (Amando+) and Clelia Chapa Rocha (Juan+), and niece Adrienne A. Rocha.

Peter graduated from Hebbronville High School in 1957. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served 3 years, doing service in the Korean War and in Germany. He attended the University of Texas and attained various degrees. Peter lived the majority of his life in Austin, where he made many friends. He worked for the University’s student publications, including The Daily Texan newspaper, The Cactus yearbook and a student magazine.

He also co-authored a book titled “Viva! Famous Mexican Americans” that featured the biographies and photos of successful Mexican Americans during the 1960s and 1970s.

While at UT, Peter became a cultural icon. Peter’s home, where he regularly hosted parties, was referred to as the “Chapatorium.” He befriended many of UT’s and Austin’s socialites. Peter led an interesting, well-traveled and varied life. Until the day he died, Peter lived for the Longhorns to win and would scream loudly urging them on while watching TV.

David Lopez, a friend and colleague at The Daily Texan then, remembers Peter:

“Pete not only knew how to party.  He had a gentleman’s proclivity.  In 1963, Madame Nhu, then First Lady of South Vietnam, visited UT and was invited to speak at a well-attended event.  When she was introduced to the packed audience, she walked into the stage, arm in arm with Pete as her self-appointed escort.  I did not ask Pete how that came about.  I knew I could assume he just felt that someone had to do it.  In 1965, when Romelia and I married in a historical Mexico City chapel, Pete escorted Romelia’s widowed mother into the service.  The prior year, Romelia and I were getting to know each other and wanted to go to the LULAC national convention in Los Angeles.  Pete volunteered to drive us in his car and chaperone, inviting Martha McNeil Hamiltont o join us in order to get the approval of Romelia’s mother.”

Friend Pat Sharpe said, “Peter was like a character in a novel—so flamboyant, so smart. I remember his wild laugh and the great parties he would throw at that little stone house.”

Friend Sharon Shelton: “We worked on the Texan at the same time and hung around the Chuck Wagon in the student center together. I knew him well and counted him as a special friend…We’ll all miss Pete. He was one of a kind.”

Friend Kaye Northcott said, “Lots of fun times with him. He came to UT for the education but stayed for the fun.”

There as a remembrance that he likely set a record as longest undergraduate registered at UT, leading the Board of Regents to change its policy on length of registration. Friend Laura Burns recalls: “I just know he was there for decades. Tuition was fairly low back then, he was able to keep on with part-time jobs. Had been an army sergeant, started out on the GI bill.”

According to an Associated Press article by Jack Keever in the Austin American-Statesman  in 1979, Chapa enrolled in January 1961 and, with the exception of a one and a half year layoff, received his undergraduate degree in January 1979. The article is included at the bottom of this article.

Martha Hamilton, a former Daily Texan and Washington Post reporter, recalls this memory of Chapa at the Watergate congressional hearings: “It was in the aftermath of Watergate, and hearings were going on in Congress. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein stayed in the newsroom at the Washington Post, digging up all the additional info they could from their sources. The Post would send a not-so-important reporter to sit at the press table during the hearings, in case news broke out. The day I was the designated reporter, I walked into the hearing room to pick up from a reporter who had been there earlier that day. I had no idea that Peter and a friend were in town, let alone at the hearings. But when I walked in, Peter saw me and blurted out: “Oh my god, it’s Martha!!!”  It was loud enough to turn heads in the back of the room where he was standing, surrounded by people who started looking for Martha Mitchell, wife of the Attorney General, who had been rumored to be thinking about testifyinng”

Peter was a beloved son, brother and uncle to his family. He is survived by his nieces Lynda Lee Soliz (Humberto), Judy Joyce Saenz Gonzales (George+), and Margo Rocha, and nephews, Manuel Flores Jr. (Adriana), Mark Rocha and Christopher Rocha. As well as his cousins, Elsa Chapa Jackson and Sylvia Hernandez, additional family in Laredo, as well as his great nephews and nieces and numerous dear friends.

Visitation will start at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, at the Funeraria Del Angel Howard-Williams, Hebbronville with Burial to follow at 11 a.m. at Greenhill Cemetery.