Charles S. Chestnut III

Charles S. Chestnut III, Civil Rights leader and Co Owner of Ceasar Funeral Home dies at 83.
Civil Rights leader, Co-owner of Ceasar Funeral Home, and Chestnut Funeral Home owner Charles S. Chestnut III, died on December 4, 2023 at age 83. Mr. Chestnut along with his Grandfather Charles S. Chestnut, Sr. worked for many years along side Mrs. Alice Ceasar serving Lake City, Sanderson, Macclenny, Ft. White, and the Greater North Central Florida area.
Mr. Chestnut was a former Alachua County commissioner and the first Black member elected in 1976 to the Alachua County School Board. He was the spouse of the Honorable Cynthia Moore Chestnut, City of Gainesville Commissioner At-Large.
Mr. Chestnut was born in 1940 in Gainesville, Florida to Charles Chestnut, Jr. and Doris Chestnut. He attended segregated schools in Alachua and Marion counties before enrolling in what is now Bethune-Cookman University and graduating from Eckels School of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia.
Upon returning to Gainesville, Mr. Chestnut led the local Civil Rights movement as president of the Alachua County NAACP Youth Council. In 1963, he coordinated sit-ins to integrate the whites-only counters at local drugstores and secure equal access to public accommodations for the Black residents of the county. He followed that effort with a campaign to expand voters' rights across Alachua County by helping Black residents register to vote.
After being elected to the Alachua County School Board, Mr. Chestnut worked for 16 years to represent all students and families because, in his words, "there are problems shared by all races." He was chosen as president of the Florida School Boards Association in 1987 and was named to the Florida Council on Educational Management by then Governor Bob Graham. In 1992, Mr. Chestnut was elected to the first of two four-year terms on the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners.
Mr. Chestnut was married to Gainesville City Commissioner Cynthia Moore Chestnut for more than 45 years and father to six children: Alachua County Commissioner Charles "Chuck" Chestnut IV, local businessman and attorney Christopher Chestnut, and daughters Pamela Murphy, Janice Chestnut, Tia Chestnut and Candace Chestnut.
He was a lifetime member of the NAACP and Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church of Gainesville, a founding member of the Beta Pi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and a U.S. Army veteran.
The many honors bestowed upon Mr. Chestnut during his lifetime include the NAACP Leadership Award; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall of Fame Award; the Drum Major for Justice Award; the United Negro College Fund Salute to Leadership Award; and the Community Legacy Award.
For six decades, Mr. Chestnut was the head of Chestnut Funeral Home, a prominent local business that has been owned and operated by generations of the Chestnut family since its founding in 1914.
On December 7, 2023, the Gainesville City Commission approved a resolution to dual name a section of 8th Avenue, an important thoroughfare, in memory of Mr. Chestnut. This is the stretch of road on which Chestnut Funeral Home is located and will now be called "Charles S. Chestnut III Avenue," with 68 road signs to be installed by December 15.
LAKE CITY WAKE
Mr. Chestnut will repose in Lake City for public visitation on Thursday, December 14, 2023 from 4 - 6:30 PM at Mt. Pisgah AME Church, 345 NE Washington St., Lake City, FL 32055, Pastor Jon A. Ingraham, Servant Leader.
FUNERAL SERVICE
Funeral Services for Mr. Chestnut, III will be held at 1 PM, Monday, December 18, 2023 at Phillips Center for the Performing Arts at University of Florida, 3201 Hull Rd., Gainesville, FL 32611.