Calvin White Chesson

July 23, 1936 - January 30, 2025

Charlotte, North Carolina - Cal Chesson lived a blessed life. The best part was that he knew it. He found true love not once but twice. He had the privilege of raising a wonderful family. He bounced back from brain surgery and pneumonia. Everything he did – musician, accountant, lawyer, teacher, even a model specializing in grandfather roles – brought him joy and fulfillment.

Calvin White Chesson died on January 30, 2025 after a brief illness. A gentleman more at peace you will not find. He was 88.

Cal was born on July 23, 1936, in the small eastern N.C. town of Williamston, the second child of Bruce and Beatrice Chesson's three children. Cal learned the value of hard work early. The summer he was 13, he started a business rolling a bakery wagon around town, selling goodies he purchased wholesale from the local bakery. No wonder Cal went into business law. He got an early schooling when the bakery quit selling to him and took over his business.

Cal embraced hard work. His father died during his sophomore year at East Carolina University. To pay his way through school, he started a dance band called "Calvin Chesson and The Dreamers." Cal played trumpet. He also sold shoes on Saturdays at Belk and drove an oil truck during his summer "break." After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration in 1958 and working as an accountant for Sealtest Foods. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served six months active duty. Following military service, he attended University of North Carolina School of Law and graduated in 1962. Among his law school jobs – Cal always had a job – were grading undergraduate accounting papers and later teaching intermediate accounting at UNC-Chapel Hill.

His law career and life in Charlotte began in 1962 when he joined Lassiter, Moore & Van Allen (now Moore & Van Allen). Over 60 years, he served as an Assistant District Attorney and practiced business law in several firms, including his own. He also taught at several colleges and universities before becoming a full-time business law professor at UNC Charlotte until retiring in 2019.

But that was all about law. Love is what completed Cal's life. Twice. For 49 years, he was married to Ann Cooke. The two met at East Carolina. Together they raised two daughters and shared all that makes life truly rich. Ann was struck by Alzheimer's disease and passed away in 2007 at age 71. He found himself alone, until he connected with a wonderful woman in the Ownbey Sunday School class at Myers Park United Methodist Church. The former Eleanor Harris had lost her husband, Randy to heart disease in 2004. He was 74. They, too, were married 49 years. Cal and Eleanor's first date was Sunday lunch. Cal and Eleanor were married October 4, 2008. Together, they built a sweet life – breakfast together each morning, enjoying British comedies on TV, caring for one another until the end.

Cal is survived by his and Ann's two daughters – Courtney Knight and her husband, Chris, of Wallburg, N.C., and Stephanie Chesson of Charlotte; five grandchildren, Cameron, Catherine, Chesson, Connor, Gunnar, Stacy and Jennifer; and two great-grandchildren, Cooper and Collin. He is also survived by Eleanor's two children, Mitzi Arzani and her husband Victor, of Charlotte and Dr. Randy Harris and his wife, Lisa, of Greensboro; and five grandchildren from her first marriage, Elizabeth, Emily, Matthew, Holly and Mary Katherine. Cal was smitten by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, proud of his children's independence and grateful for their blended families' love.

A service to celebrate his life will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 15, 2025 in the Francis Chapel of Myers Park United Methodist Church, 1501 Queens Road in Charlotte. Visitation follows at the church.

Rather than flowers, a gift in Cal's memory can be made to the Charlotte-based chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Send a check to 225 N. Michigan Ave., Floor 17, Chicago, Ill. 60601 or give online at www.alz.org/northcarolina.

Cal always said he never did a thing to earn the blessings that filled his cup overflowing. It was God's doing, and the people who graced his wonderful life.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, N.C. 208204; (704)641-7606. Online condolences can be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com