Virgil W. Chatham, Jr. was born on the 29th of October 1944, and raised by his mother Mozelle and stepfather Charlie Damek in the South Park neighborhood of Houston. “Butch” graduated from Jesse Jones Senior High School with the class of 1963, and attended the University of St. Thomas on a baseball scholarship while majoring in Economics and practical jokes. Tall tales of palm trees set afire in Montrose, and exploding Babo bombs on Lower Westheimer were often recounted, as well as a story about pigeons that cannot not be repeated. It should be noted that Virgil occasionally got as good as he gave from his two daughters.
Virgil met Janice (his wife of 49 years) at UST after a stint in the Marine Reserves. For their first date, he bought tickets to see Jeff Beck in concert, and continued dragging Janice to rock concerts over the next 49 years (Robin Trower being a particular favorite). They recently attended the Moody Blues concert in January when the band rolled through town, and Virgil pronounced the band to be in fine form. After graduating from St. Thomas, Virgil went to work for Xerox in their sales management program before joining Stewart & Stevenson, where he worked over the next 25 years in their gas turbine engine division, as well as with power generator and compressor sales, and commercial airline ground support. These clients provided him the opportunity to travel to several countries (Haiti, Malaysia, Russia to name a few), and produced many an interesting story. Away from the office, Virgil stayed active in sports (baseball and soccer in particular), whether as a player, coach or simply a spectator at the ballpark. Unsuspecting family members were often dragged out to Minute Maid Park hours before the opening pitch, in order to watch batting practice and player warm ups.
As a youth, Virgil enjoyed hearing Paul Berlin’s incredible stories on the radio while getting his haircut at the Blodgett Street Barber Shop by the fabulous Skeeter Skinner. He had an appreciation for classic cars and hot rods, and liked heading up to Spring to catch the Niftee 50ees Classic Cruisers car show on a Saturday evening with Janice. Virgil had a soft spot for stray animals, as well as a tasty burger. He liked hard-edged movies by Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino, but was a big softy while binge-watching Hallmark Christmas movies every year. The yearly ritual of setting up multiple Christmas displays around the house started to occur earlier every year, and if left up to Virgil, the house would have remained decorated all year long.
The last ten years had seen Virgil actively involved in the various Senior Softball leagues around town. He was always willing to offer teammates helpful batting instructions and words of encouragement, while never staying satisfied with his own performance. Throughout his retirement years, Virgil always acted like an individual half his age, both in body and spirit. He is survived in death by his devoted wife Janice and their two daughters Amy (and Doug) Lawson and Sarah Chatham (Jake Unruh). Virgil never enjoyed attending funerals, and he thought it appropriate that his family and friends not have to do the same; therefore, there will be no services, but please share with us your memory of Virgil in the entries below.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Heart Association in memory of Virgil.
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