He was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Roy Howard Chandler Sr. and Edna Louise Chandler. Survivors include his brother Roy Jr., (Anita); his loving wife of twenty-eight years, Elizabeth; children, Bill Jr., Christine (Mark), Bob (Wanda), Dee (Tony); Lynn (Mae), Regina, Donna and Tammy (Ronnie); numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Bill and I (Roy) had the privilege of being brought up by hardworking supportive parents; our father was the rough outdoors-man, and mother cared for the finer things in life. Some of each of them rubbed off on us. Each of us were independent, and doing our own thing, but were never out of touch and were always concerned about the well being of each other. Bill and I fished and hunted together growing up and were taught respect for nature and wildlife by our dad. Mother on the other hand was concerned that we should at least wear shoes and a shirt part of the time. Bill and I attended the same grammar school and high school, but with our age difference didn’t spend much time with each other.
Dad passed in April of 1946, I was fifteen and Bill was thirteen. Things were really hard on mother; but she managed and eventually I graduated from VMI a Military College. Bill and I were both trying to stay out of the Korean War, so Mother encouraged us to get as much military training as possible. My relationship with Bill became even closer as we grew older; I am truly grateful for the bond of family and friendship that has developed over the years between his family and mine.
After graduating from high school where he was in the Navy ROTC; Bill joined the Navy Reserves and attended Georgia Military College. While in college he was drafted by the Army into the Korean War. He had to resign his commission with the Navy to enlist in the Army. While in Korea he served in the motor pool. When his commitment to the Army was complete; he began working for the Georgia Highway Department as a draftsman, where he met his first wife and began his family. In 1961 he was offered a Managers position at Cocoa Motor Parts and he moved his family to Merritt Island, Florida. In 1964 he began working for Pan Am as an engineer for the Apollo program, when the Shuttle program began he moved on to Disney in 1972 and began the As-Built Department…..he retired from Disney in 1996 after a very successful engineering career. Bill met and married Elizabeth during his Disney years, where they both were employed. They retired together to Merritt Island, enjoying many wonderful cruises and trips to Hawaii and Alaska and enjoyed many short trips around Florida.
Bill loved spending time with his family and good friends. He was an avid outdoors-man and especially enjoyed boating, fishing, and hunting. All who loved him enjoyed the great stories he would tell. Bill truly loved life and he never met a stranger, everyone was always greeted with his wonderful smile and welcoming personality! To his children he was a most caring and loving father, we could not have been more blessed. Please dress like it is 100 degrees in Florida; it would be Daddy’s wish! A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at Brevard Memorial Funeral Home, 5475 North US Highway 1, Cocoa, FL. 32927. Donations may be made in his memory to the American Red Cross or Hospice of Brevard (HealthFirst).
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