John Chrysler

John C. Chrysler died peacefully in his Pt. Loma home on 03 August following a short illness.

He was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada on 28 September, 1935, the youngest son of Ernest and Elizabeth (Arnold) Chrysler. He moved to Southern California in 1964 and lived and worked in various Los Angeles and Orange County locations prior to settling in San Diego in 1985.

He attended Rio Hondo College in Whittier, CA , received his Bachelor of Science degree in Laws and then was conferred his Juris Doctorate degree from Western State University College of Law of Orange County in January 1974. John was a member of State Bar of California and was self employed as an attorney and tax consultant.

As a young man growing up in Canada, it was his ambition to be a professional baseball player, which was a very unusual goal for a Canadian in the early 1950’s. Upon graduation from high school in 1954 he headed to southern Florida and signed a contract with the old Washington Senators farm team as a pitcher. He spent one winter season in Florida and then headed back to Canada where he worked in banking and accounting related positions for about 10 years before heading to sunny Southern California. Upon completion of his education in California, after passing the bar exam and relocating to San Diego, he became a volunteer baseball coach for San Diego City College in addition to playing baseball on various senior hardball teams in the San Diego area. His long association with the San Diego City College baseball team was a source of inspiration to himself as well as to many of the young college team players.

John is survived by his wife, Mary (Tierney) Chrysler, sons Mark of Sandy, UT; Paul of Mission Viejo, CA; daughters Maureen of Anchorage AK; Wendy and Diane (wife of Kevin) Rea, both of Corona, CA; grandsons Gerrit and PJ Chrysler, Josh and Matt Rea, and granddaughter Gabrielle Chrysler. He is also survived by his sister and niece, Marion and Ruth Archibald of Chatham, Ontario and niece Susan Archibald of Carseland, Alberta. Son David Chrysler pre-deceased John in April of 2000.

A San Diego memorial mass for John will be celebrated at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Pt. Loma on Thursday, 25 August, at 1000. A graveside service and burial will take place at St. John’s Cemetery in Lancaster, MA in early September.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Scripps-Mercy Hospice, 4311 Third Ave., San Diego, CA, 92103 or to the San Diego City College Foundation (Men’s Baseball Team), 1313 Park Blvd., San Diego, CA 92101-4787 Beardsley-Mitchell Funeral Home, 1818 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, San Diego, CA 92107 (BeardsleyMitchell.com) is handling the funeral arrangements for San Diego and McNally-Watson Funeral Home, 304 Church St., Clinton, MA, 01510, (McNallyWatson.com) is handling graveside arrangements for the Massachusetts burial.