Early Years
Roger Bruce Chaffee was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he became an Eagle Scout and graduated from Central High School. Turning down a possible appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, Chaffee accepted a Naval ROTC scholarship and in September 1953 enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology. After transferring to Purdue University in the fall of 1954, Chaffee earned a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1957. While there, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma social fraternity, and the Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Gamma Tau engineering honor societies. While at Purdue, Chaffee took flight training as part of the Naval ROTC program in order to prepare him for a career as a Naval Aviator, soloing on 29 March 1957 and obtained his private pilot's license on 24 May 1957.
Chaffee married Martha Horn in Oklahoma City on August 24, 1957, whom he met while on a blind date in September 1955, and had two children, Sheryl Lyn (born 17 November 1958) and Stephen (born 3 July 1961).
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