CHATHAM, Willis C. (Chester)

Willis C. (Chester) Chatham, passed away on October 29, 2003. He was born in Nevada, Missouri on June 23, 1908 to William Franklin and Chester Virginia Chatham and came to Arizona at the age of four where he lived the remainder of his life. He is survived by Jessie Lee (Seaton), his loving wife of almost 70 years, son, Willis Lee Chatham, DVM, daughter, Margaret Ann Steele (George), 7 grand-children, and 19 great grandchildren. He was the sole surviving Charter Member of the Scottsdale United Methodist Church. He came to the Valley of Sun prior to Arizona becoming a state, was in the first graduating class of Scottsdale High School and attended Tempe Normal, which later became Arizona State University, where he played baseball for the Bulldogs. Chester worked a variety of jobs during the depression and married his sweetheart Jessie in March of 1934. In 1941, they realized their dream of farming and began to dairy in what is now south Scottsdale. In 1962, they sold the dairy and moved to Buckeye where they farmed and fed cattle for 10 years. Chester was a former Director of the United Dairymen of Arizona and Board member of Arizona Farm Bureau. In 1972, Chester and Jessie retired and returned to Scottsdale where he obtained his real estate license working for several different agencies. In their retirement years, Chester and Jessie enjoyed traveling in their RV and were able to follow their favorite sports teams including the Sun Devils, the Suns and more recently the Diamondbacks. However, the most important thing in Chester's life was his family. He often said that he was blessed (and lucky) that Jessie agreed to be his wife, friend and soul-mate of almost 70 years. Until his death, their marriage was one of respect, devotion, laughter and most importantly love. Of all of the roles he played throughout his life, the one he enjoyed the most was being Gramps to his 7 grandkids and 19 great-grandchildren. He imparted to them the values and principles that guided his wonderful life and this has made them better people. There was a visitation at Messinger Mortuary in Scottsdale on Sunday, November 2nd, 2003. A funeral service was held at Scottsdale United Methodist Church on Monday, November 3rd. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to The Scottsdale United Methodist Church, 4140 N. Miller, Scottsdale 85251 or The Thomas J. Pappas School, 355 N. 5th Ave., Phoenix 85003. Published in the Arizona Republic from 11/1/2003 - 11/2/2003.