James W. Chapman Sr., a retired equal employment opportunity specialist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, died of cancer Sunday at the Fort Howard Veterans Hospital. He was 64 and resided on North Denison Street.

Services for Mr. Chapman were being held today at Union Baptist Church, 1219 Druid Hill Ave.

He retired in 1986 after working more than 20 years at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. Earlier, he was a civilian employee of the Army and of the Coast Guard.

Born in Pitt County in eastern North Carolina, he served in the Army in the late 1940s and remained in the Reserves, retiring as a chief warrant officer.

He is survived by his wife, the former Barbara Rice; a son, James W. Chapman Jr. of Baltimore; two daughters, Belinda A.Chapman and Mia S. Chapman, both of Baltimore; six sisters, Pearl Alexander and Lillian Hawkins, both of Baltimore, Beatrice Hall and Georgia Stewart, both of Portsmouth, Va., Esther Stewart of Ayden, N.C., and Carrie Ruth Moore of New York City; and two grandchildren.