James Riley Chandler

Our son, James Riley Chandler passed away in a car accident on Sunday morning, January 19, 2025.
A Celebration of Life ceremony for both Riley Chandler and Kim Chandler will be held Saturday, February 1st, at Christ Hope Church in Greenville, with visitation at 11AM and service to follow at 12 PM.
Riley was born on July 10th, 2004, in Greenville NC and was raised in Grimesland. Growing up on Chicod Creek, surrounded by a family of outdoorsmen, it would have been impossible for him to not love the woods, swamp and creek. Riley would traipse along behind his father or brothers on any adventures they could come up with.
Riley preferred always to 'fly under the radar' and avoiding anything that would draw too much attention. He tried several sports but never found anything he liked as much as hunting and fishing. He absolutely loved fishing for anything that would hit a lure and also liked nice fishing equipment. He and his close friends paddled, fished and hunted the creek year-round, and he knew his way up and down that swamp. His years in school were fairly uneventful because of his quiet demeanor. He did what he had to do and was very smart but would have always preferred to be in the woods.
Where Riley was different was in his powers of observation and attention to detail. He did not miss anything! I had come to depend on him to solve problems with mechanical things because he was very patient and would work through the issue without losing his cool.
He was a really great brother to his three brothers, Rand, Reed and Ross and a bit of a jokester with his sister-in-law, Sarah.
After losing his beloved mother, Kim Chandler, in February 2024, he started going to the gym with a buddy from ECU and he really enjoyed working out. Sometimes I think he went to the gym just so he didn't have to study! He was studying Mechanical Engineering at ECU and it was tough, but I am confident he would have made it through and been a great engineer. We will all miss him for the rest of our lives, and I will always be grateful for the hugs he purposely came downstairs and gave me every night when I went to bed after his Mother passed away.
People often say that someone was a 'really good kid', and you think what about when they had five speeding tickets or cheated on every test they ever took? Well, not Riley, he was a Really Good Kid.
He is survived by a bunch of family and friends that will keep his memory alive and play hard on his behalf.