Mr. Robert K. Chidester

Robert (Bob) Kay Chidester was born on July 15, 1933 in Richfield, Utah and passed away on Sunday, July 28, 2013 of natural causes. He had just turned 80 and had been surrounded by his four children and most of his eleven grandchildren the morning of his passing. He had been living at Hart Heritage Estates of Forest Hill since November 2010 where he moved to be closer to his oldest daughter. Prior to moving to Harford County, he had lived in Edgewater, Maryland since 1994. Previous residences had been in Crofton and Crownsville, Maryland and various places in California where he was from. Dad was the third of four children. His older brothers Howard and Hugh are deceased and his wife, Carol Chidester, passed away in 1994. He is survived by his younger sister, Linda Startup of Placentia, California, his four children, Ruth Maiorana of Street, Maryland, Barbara Taylor of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Lee Chidester of Portland, Oregon, and Joan Craft of Warrenton, Virginia, and eleven grandchildren, ranging in age from 20 to 3 years. Dad grew up in the latter years of the Depression and the lessons he learned during this tough time in American history stayed with him throughout his life. His generation really knew how to "reduce, reuse, and recycle" before it was hip!! When he was in grade school, he was very fond of playing marbles and accumulated more than 3,000 marbles as winnings. He wasn't sure what happened to all those marbles, but figures most were shot in his slingshot. Also, he and his older brothers sold newspapers for several years. These are just some of the lessons and experiences from his youth that I remember him passing along to us - how to conserve, how to pick a good "shooter" marble, how to fold a newspaper without needing a rubber band or plastic bag (helpful since both Lee and Joan had newspaper routes!). Dad was mostly a rule follower, but he was known to break into the school playground to play basketball (the only place in town to play), once even on a Sunday. He said "I guess I was a double breaker of the Sabbath that day." As his child, its hard to imagine him doing that! I also remember him telling us, with a little smile, of how he and a buddy would make adjustments to the school water fountains to make the water shoot 10+ feet straight up rather than arch gently down, shooting the unsuspecting drinker right in the face. Dad was interested in a lot of sports including football, baseball, basketball, and tennis, with basketball and tennis being his favorites. He enjoyed playing church basketball and his team was the East Los Angeles Stake champions for the 1950-1951 season, an accomplishment he mentioned often and was very proud of. A partial collapsed lung kept Dad from playing in the regional tournament. Dad started his college education at California State Polytechnic College at San Luis Obispo studying electronics engineering with the end goal being working at a radio station. After completing his first year there, he experienced two more lung collapses, one while he was blessing the sacrament at church. He decided not to return to Cal Poly, but instead return home and rebuild his strength. While he was home and working, Dad decided to go on a mission for his church - he hadn't given much thought to a mission previously given his family's economic situation. In 1954, Dad began his Spanish-speaking mission in Southern California that also covered portions of Arizona and Mexico - something that would affect his pursuits for the rest of his life. He picked up a love for the language and the people, and always enjoyed telling stories of his mission. He kept in touch with some of the people he baptized and had been invited recently to attend the 97th birthday celebration of a woman he had baptized all those many years ago. Following his mission, he enrolled in UCLA for undergraduate and graduate work. In 1964 he got his MA in Latin American Studies and continued on working towards his PhD. While at UCLA, he met Mom (Carol) at the LDS student ward there - something that he felt some of the unexpected turns his life had taken had lead him to. I always remember Dad as a quietly spiritual man and know that he felt guided at many of the main turning points (mission, marriage, work, where to live, etc) in his life. The early years of our family were spent in Southern California. Ruth, Barbara, and Lee were born during this time. In1973, we moved to Maryland and Joan was born a few years later - the family was complete. Dad's professional career was varied, working for Catalina Bathing Suit Co. and the NSA early on, and then Prudential for many years. No matter what his career was, family always came first. He made sacrifices, I am sure more than we will ever know, to make sure he was available to relieve Mom from us 4 rambunctious, I mean gifted and well-behaved, kids. As we got older, that meant lots of chauffeuring to and from school activities and sporting events and eating dinner at 4:30 pm to accommodate swim practice schedules. Dad was quite the collector of the written word. After us kids were grown and out of the house, he would often send us inspirational stories or articles he thought we would find interesting or helpful, often the same story multiple times (ha ha). He and Mom loved to collect inspirational quotes. Like any parent, he loved to impart his wisdom and advice to us - the two bits I remember him sharing the most were, "Swim to the end of the pool." and "Don't take any wooden nickles." Sage advice, indeed. He was also active in his local homeowner's association, serving on the board and as Board President. He was especially proud of being able to pull of the establishment of a park area and of protecting the rather fragile bay area where he lived in Edgewater, Maryland. Bob was also a great follower of politics and his belongings include many binders of letters he wrote and articles he had cut out from newspapers about issues that he felt particularly strong about. He also wrote letters to the editor of The Capitol that he kept. He had a strong quiet faith in his religion and was very active all of his life in his church, even to the end. We have heard stories of how he shared that faith with others he met along the way. No matter their faith or beliefs, they respected Dad for his passion and the way he shared what he believed in and what was important to him. ___ In lieu of flowers, please send any donations to the Amedisys Hospice of Greater Chesapeake, 7106 Ridge Road, Suite 100, Rosedale, MD 21237. http://www.amedisys.com/find-a-care-center/care-center.aspx?ID=5014