Thank you Greg and signals for further commentary/discussion.
signals, I think you are correct that the chapter marking may not be DVD compliant. After further efforts (read banging my head against the wall) I have verified that my BluRay player doesn't recognize the chapter marks of the original disc and neither does a second, Memorex DVD player. It's hard to imagine any manufacturer of "DVD" equipment creating something that isn't compliant in it's recording structure. After all, "Finalizing" a disc should mean compliance. I guess not though. What seems simple usually isn't. :(
I discovered this after copying the disc with IsoBuster, since there is no protection in it. Heck, IsoBuster might even copy a disc like that. I've never tried. I now have an .ISO file that at least is a copy of the original -- not recognized by any player but the original recorder. Now, THAT's a waste of effort. Can't share what I thought was a properly chaptered disc.
I wasn't shooting for HQ thus my efforts to just make a DVD to enjoy and share with a couple of friends. I wasn't wanting to make this into a project of import where I need to track down "sources." I have the VHS in hand. And I've already looked at the recording on the DVD players mentioned. I don't mind what I've ended up with as far as the video quality goes. But it sucks that I can't propagate the chapters without further processing with other software. I really didn't want to have to go that far. I've authored/chaptered another couple of DVDs this way but never checked the copies to find out the bad news until tonight. Bummer.
And, Greg, I probably am SOOL, short of doing what you suggest. Thanks for the suggestion, though.