LeRoy Wilfred Chalupa was born to parents Frank Chalupa and Katharine Hoefert on December 13, 1912, and raised on the family farm in Pleasant Plain, Iowa, alongside two siblings.
Chalupa was a farmer who owned a hardware store and feed manufacturing plant.
When the war ended, Chalupa became a carpenter in Los Angeles before returning to Iowa in 1947.
[2] A Republican, Chalupa was mayor and city councilor in his hometown before being elected to five consecutive terms on the Iowa House of Representatives.
[2] Chalupa was defeated in the 1964 election cycle, and died on November 1, 1965, at the Veterans' Hospital in Iowa City.