Chester L. Ahr

Chester L. Ahr passed away in San Antonio on December 26, 2014 from complications arising from a broken hip. He was preceded in death by his father, Frank Ahr, and mother, Kathleen Callaghan; wife, Sylvia Harley Ahr; brothers, Russell, Tom and James; and sisters, Hazel and Etienne. He is survived by son, Russell Ahr and daughter-in-law Alma Ahr of San Antonio; nephew, Tom Ahr of San Antonio; nephew, Frank Ahr of Houston; niece, Patricia Prokosch of Phoenix; niece, Pam Ahr of Oregon; nephew, David Ahr of Phoenix and nephew, Ronnie Erskine of Phoenix.

Chester was born on June 19, 1921 in San Antonio, Texas. His mother gave birth to him in the family home near St. Patrick's Church, in an area that was later taken for construction of Interstate 35 between N. New Braunfels and North Hackberry. By the time he was nine years old, the family had moved to Brownsville where his father Frank worked for Colglazier Construction. Frank helped to work on some of the first paved streets across the border in Matamoros, while Chester's older brother Tom delivered newspapers in Brownsville on horseback. In 1930 the Ahr children were left orphaned by an epidemic of pneumonia that took the lives of both Frank and Kathleen within a six-month period. By that time, Russell, Tom and Hazel were no longer minors, and a decision was made to place Chester, James and Etienne in St. Peter's St. Joseph's Catholic orphanage in San Antonio. This was during the Great Depression and the orphans had to raise their own food in fields which they cultivated around the orphanage on Mission Rd. across from Mission Concepcion. They often ate vegetables for every meal, as there was no meat unless someone made a charitable contribution to the nuns. One of Chester's assigned responsibilities was to cross over to the mission and clean the Grotto which is still there to this day. By the time he was around sixteen years old, he was allowed to go to live with various family members including his older brother Russell and his uncles Joe and John in San Antonio.

In 1939 he met and married Sylvia Harley Young of San Antonio after he was introduced by Sylvia's cousin Victor Raymer. At the time Sylvia was working at the Cherry Blossom Cake Shop on Broadway in Alamo Heights. They soon began living on Waverly Avenue near the Basilica of the Little Flower in a house owned by Charles Walkinshaw, Sylvia's maternal step-grandfather. On December 12, 1941 Chester enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and went through boot camp at Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego, California. His division was sent to the South Pacific where he survived amphibious landings on Guadalcanal, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Espiritu Santo and Guam. He was severely wounded on Guam where a mortar shell hit his trench and shattered his right collar bone, shoulder, elbow and wrist. He also suffered shrapnel wounds to the head, and several pieces were never removed. While Chester served in the Pacific, Sylvia worked as a radial aircraft engine mechanic at Kelly Field. She was one of only two women to work on the test block where trials were run on the engines following overhaul and earned the respect of all the older male mechanics. After recovering from his wounds Chester was sent back to the U.S. and was stationed at a munitions depot on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, Washington where Sylvia was able to join him. They had a small apartment in Port Townsend at that time which they remembered fondly through the years.

After the war they returned to Texas where Chester attended San Antonio College when it was still located adjacent to La Villita in downtown San Antonio. He then transferred to Southern Methodist University in Dallas and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. Among his classmates at SMU at the time were Kyle Rote, Doak Walker and Aaron Spelling. After graduation, Chester was first employed by Briggs and Weaver in Dallas. He and Sylvia moved back to San Antonio and in 1951, they had a son whom they named Russell after Chester's older brother. For the next few years Chester worked in procurement and logistics for numerous employers in the San Antonio area, including the oilman and rancher Ralph Fair, Brandt Iron Works and Alamo Iron Works. In 1955 he was hired by the Department of Defense and began to work at Kelly Field as a Contract Negotiator, Procurement Officer and Base Mobilization Officer. He and Sylvia purchased a residence on Cincinnati Avenue in 1957 and it would remain their home until she passed away in 2008. He continued to work at Kelly Field until he retired in 1987.

After his beloved wife's death in 2008, Chester moved in with his son Russell and daughter-in-law Alma Rosa Rivera of Tampico, Mexico. It was an amazing coincidence that he had been sent to Tampico by Ralph Fair on numerous occasions during the 1950's to check on the oilman's holdings in that vicinity. He was able to accompany Russell and Alma on a trip back to Tampico in 2010 and got to see once again the port and the docks after more than fifty years.

Chester was a devoted and loving husband and father who gave everything and asked for nothing. Always generous, forgiving and patient, he was loved by all those who knew him. He had an incredibly difficult life, but accomplished everything on his own without anyone to encourage or help him. He was the quintessential self-made man. He was one of the last of his kind and will never be forgotten, but forever loved and remembered. If ever there was a person who earned his place in heaven, it is Chester Ahr.

The family will receive friends from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., Thursday, January 1, 2015, at Porter Loring Mortuary North.

ROSARY

THURSDAY

JANUARY 1, 2015

7:00 P.M.

PORTER LORING NORTH CHAPEL

SERVICE

FRIDAY

JANUARY 2, 2015

10:00 A.M.

PORTER LORING NORTH CHAPEL

Interment will follow in San Fernando Cemetery #3.