Wesley E. Chesson Jr.

NEWPORT NEWS - Wesley Earle Chesson Jr., of New Castle, Del., and Newport News, Va., died in a Hampton, Va., hospital on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. He was born Feb. 9, 1922, in Norfolk, Va., to Wesley Earle and Madeline Bedout Chesson.
Earle spent his early years there, including Willoughby Spit, and attended Sacred Heart Elementary School. When the family moved to D.C., Earle lived with his parents there and in Alexandria, graduating from Tech High School in 1939. He entered the College of William and Mary that fall as a member of the class of 1943, worked as a waiter in Trinkle Hall, and joined Theta Delta Chi. He left the College to enlist in the U.S. Navy on March 31, 1942. After training with a Construction Battalion in Mississippi and Rhode Island, he was sent to the Azores. Earle received an honorable discharge May 26, 1946, and re-enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve a few months later. He completed his A.B. at William and Mary and married Virginia Winborne Ramsey the same year, his beloved wife of more than 59 years. They had two sons, Michael B. of Belmont Mass., and Mark W. of Newport News, Va.
Earle worked briefly for the Virginia State Corporation Commission, before taking a position with Brooks trucking on the North Boulevard in Richmond. He worked for Brooks in Richmond, and was a terminal manager in Greensboro, N.C., and Newport News. He left for a job at Newport Business Forms, and then spent many years at Ferguson High School as a history and government teacher, and earned an M.A. in history from Old Dominion University in 1974.
Retiring from the Newport News school system in 1976, he and his wife enjoyed annual fall trips to Montana, as well as their second home in New Castle. Earle retired from the Naval Reserve as a Master Chief Yeoman (E-9) in February 1982.
He was a member of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Fleet Reserve Association, Delaware Historical Society, Maryland Historical Society, Montana Club, Museum of the Confederacy, Order of the White Jacket at William and Mary, Society of 1812, Sons of the American Revolution, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Southern Historical Association, Virginia Historical Society, and other organizations. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Newport News, and St. Peter's Church in New Castle.
In addition to his sons, Earle is survived by four grandchildren, Sarah Winborne, Jane Schomburg, Mark Allyn, and Virginia Woodward.
There will be a private burial service at St. Mary's Cemetery in Norfolk.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the College of William and Mary Foundation, P.O. Box 8795, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795; Delaware Historical Society, 505 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE 19801; or Virginia Historical Society, P.O. Box 7311, Richmond VA 23221-0311.
H. D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk Chapel, is handling arrangements. Online condolences may be offered to the family through hdoliver.com. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.