Ross Maxwell Chandler

Born August 16, 1962 in Lumberton NC, he was the only child of the late Ralph Maynard and Emogene Winecoff Chandler, and the grandson of George Maynard and Stella McNeill Chandler and Oney Flowe and Lucy Fisher Winecoff.

Ross reveled in growing up in Lumberton in the 1960s and ‘70s, where he was a member of First Baptist Church, Boy Scout Troop 333, and Lumberton High School’s class of 1980. He often joked that his childhood mishaps and trips to the emergency room funded a new wing at the local hospital. He went on to attend Campbell University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the latter in 1984.

While in college, he was commissioned as an Army second lieutenant. Called to active duty in September 1984, he attended Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, and served as a rifle platoon leader and battalion staff officer in Mainz, West Germany with the 8th Infantry Division.

In civilian life, he worked more than 30 years as a newspaperman, in North Carolina and Ohio, earning many writing, editing, and design awards from the North Carolina Press Association. Later, he also worked as a magazine editor for NC and SC Lawyers Weekly.

Ross was a proud member of American Legion Post 48 in Hickory, the Jaycees in Eden and Rocky Mount, and the Lions Club in Eden. He also worked as a staff announcer for WHQR-FM, the public radio station in Wilmington. His spare time activities included reading, traveling, working in the yard, and puttering with computer hardware.

He is survived by Ellen Neerincx Sigmon, the woman he so deeply loved, of Hickory, and his first cousins Marty Hughes (and husband Jack) of Gastonia, and Billy Erwin (and wife Lynn) of Kannapolis. Ross and his first cousin Rick Erwin (survived by his wife Crystal), who preceded him in death, are probably discussing Tarheel basketball with high hopes for next season.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Hickory, as well as a military marker dedication on the Chandler cemetery plot in Lumberton at a later date.

Honorary pallbearers are Ross’s longtime friends, David Ramsaur, Gene Radford, Ron Raybon, Lee Hinnant, and Keith Covill Sr.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a memorial contribution be made to the endowment fund for the Cape Fear Council, Scouting America, P.O. Box 7156, Wilmington, NC 28406.