Chester Graves

Chester Graves

Etowah, TN

Chester Owen Graves, of Alcoa, born in Etowah, TN on January 24, 1920, passed away Wednesday, September 30, 2015. He was drafted into the Armed Services during WWII where he served for almost five years and was honorably discharged as a major in the Corps of Engineering. After leaving the Army, he worked as a fireman for L&N Railroad, but then decided to attend Lincoln Memorial University and the University of Tennessee where he majored in pre-pharmacy. He went on to graduate from the University of Tennessee Pharmacy School in Memphis. Once he graduated from pharmacy school, he managed and was a pharmacist at Cole's Drugstore. He then went to work as a pharmaceutical representative for Ciba in May 1952. While working for Ciba, he earned many awards such as: the Herman Lubin Sales Representative of the Year, the Distinguished Service Award, senior medical representative, and was one of the first sales reps from Ciba to become a certified medical representative. He was also a member of the Tennessee Pharmaceutical Association. He retired from Ciba after 37 years of service. When he retired, Ciba established the SMR Award of Excellence in his honor, which was an award for representatives that had excelled through the year. Even though he retired from Ciba he enjoyed pharmaceutical work so much that he started working part-time at Lowe's Drugstore. At the age of 90 he finally decided to retire for good and was honored in the Congressional Record by John Duncan for 60 years of pharmaceutical service. He was a member of the Alcoa First United Methodist church where he taught Sunday school and sang in the choir for many years. He was an avid golfer but really loved all sports. He was a donor to University of Tennessee and huge fan of the Tennessee Vols.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Viola Graves; wife of 68 years, Margaret "Suzy" Graves; and sister, Dorothy Mason. Survivors include daughter, Cathy Adderhold and her husband, Frank; grandchildren, Travis Adderhold and wife, Leslie, Adrienne Adderhold and wife, Rose; great-grandchildren, Kambree, Clayton, Alex, Meghan, Brock, and Haleigh; sisters, Johnnie Kate Hall and Joyce Bullard.

Funeral services will be held at 7:00 p.m., Monday in McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Jason Brown officiating. Family and friends will meet at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday at Greenhill Cemetery in Etowah for the interment service. The family will receive friends from 5-7:00 p.m., Monday at McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home, Maryville. The family wishes to extend a special thanks to the girls in The Bridge at Chandler House Assisted Living in Jefferson City, TN. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alcoa Middle School golf team, 532 Faraday St., Alcoa, TN 37701. McCammon-Ammons-Click Funeral Home. 982-6812, www.mccammonammonsclick.com.