WEST COLUMBIA - The Rev. Canon George I. Chassey Jr., an Episcopal Priest for 61 years, died on Saturday, July 24, 2021. A resident of Still Hopes Retirement Community in West Columbia, S.C., he was 99 years of age.
Born September 12, 1921, in Bridgewater, Mass., he graduated from Bridgewater High School in 1938 and attended Bridgewater State University before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Prior to receiving his BA and MA from Stetson University, he studied at the University of Paris. After attending St. Luke’s School of Theology at the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn., he was ordained a deacon and then a priest by the Right Rev. Alfred Cole. Before ordination, he was engaged in several businesses and taught school in Florida and South Carolina.
In his ministry as a priest, he served parishes in Barnwell, Columbia, and Charleston, S.C. He served as Canon to the Ordinary in both South Carolina Episcopal dioceses and as the Financial Development Officer for the Diocese of Los Angeles and was a deputy to four General Conventions of the Episcopal Church. He served on many boards, commissions, and committees of the Episcopal Church and of the community, as well as the Director of Development for the Episcopal Retirement Community at Still Hopes in West Columbia.
A veteran of WW II, he served for four years with the 354th Fighter Group as crew chief on the P-51 Mustang. Canon Chassey saw combat in England, France and Germany from 1943-1945, going to France by way of Omaha Beach on D+8 as one of the detachments to establish the first operational landing strip inland from the beach, then moving on into Germany to assist in the release of prisoners of a concentration camp.
He is survived by his wife, Mary, of 78 years; two daughters, Jean Bender of Charleston, S.C., and Karen Aytes of Fayetteville, N.C.; six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one son, Richard George Chassey.
The funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. September 11, 2021, at Grace Church Cathedral in Charleston, S.C. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, Columbia, is assisting the family.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Still Hopes Residents Assistance Fund, Grace Church Cathedral, Charleston, or The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina.
Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.
