Ennis A. Chester

Ennis Armondo Chester, 80, passed away on June 5, 2015 in North Richland Hills, TX. Ennis was born on August 1, 1934 in Liberal, Kansas to Daniel H. Chester and Clarice Bennett. In 1957 after completing vocational school, specializing in Morse Code, he enlisted in the United States Army and received stenography training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. His only duty station was in Alaska where he witnessed the admission of the state into the union.

After receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 1959, Ennis returned to Kansas and found work as a farmhand. Also working on this farm was a maid named Glenda Staggs, whom he met and later married in 1961. Soon after, he began his 40 plus year career in the railroad industry. Ennis was hired as a telegraph operator, eventually moving his family to Fort Worth, TX where he retired in 1991 as a Trainmaster for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company. Post retirement, he became a consultant for Fort Worth and Western Railroad where he was instrumental in the establishment of the Tarantula Vintage Railroad, which now operates from Grapevine to Fort Worth’s historical Stockyards and Trinity River.

Ennis was an excellent dancer and enjoyed traveling, family vacations, fishing, pheasant hunting with his father, watching pro-wrestling and relaxing by the pool. He particularly enjoyed traveling to parts of Europe while visiting his son who was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany.

Ennis was preceded in death by his mother and father and is survived by sisters Velda and Thelma; wife Glenda; sons Lonny and Randall; grandchildren Ryan, Kailie, Tyler, Maegan, and Thomas; and great-grandchild Ryder.

The Chester family would like to thank those that provided care to their beloved brother, husband, father and grandfather.