Robert Harold Chase Jr.

1942 - 2021

Robert Harold Chase Jr
November 18, 1942 - November 27, 2021
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Robert Harold Chase Jr., age 79, passed away on November 27, 2021. He was born on November 18, 1942 in Galveston, TX, but grew up in Port Arthur, TX, and lived there until after his graduation from Lamar University in Chemical Engineering in 1954. He was active in Sigma Chi Fraternity.
He worked for Union Carbide Corporation in manufacturing plants in Brownsville, TX and Woodbine, GA at their Agricultural Products Research Center and Headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC. The company changed hands to Rhone-Poulenc, then to Aventis, and finally to Bayer, from which he retired as Facilities Manager in 2002 after 38 years.
He was active in the Episcopal Church all his life. He served as lay reader for 45 years (since 8th grade) and served his parishes four times as a vestry member, including serving as Jr. Warden for three years, Diocesan Convention Delegate, Acolyte sponsor, Episcopal Young Churchman sponsor, Episcopal Day School Board member, Lay Eucharistic Minister, Building and Grounds Committee Chair, Every Member Canvas Chair, Episcopal Campus Ministry sponsor, and University Ministry Committee member. He also served on the Committee on Ministry in Higher Education for the Diocese of NC. In addition to church work, he served Cub Scouts and was active in AAU swimming as an assistant coach and meet official. He served on the Research Triangle Park Owners & Tenants Assn. where he was elected to serve on the Service District Advisory Committee. He was a member of the Durham County Local Emergency Planning Committee and served on the Triangle Township Planning Advisory Committee.
His free time and chosen hobbies revolved around bird watching and travel. His passion for the outdoors, and birds in particular, took him all over the world and gave him the opportunity to amass a very impressive life list of birds.
As committed as he was to his work, church and hobbies, his greatest passion and priority was his family, to which he was fully devoted.
He is survived by three children: Robert W. Chase and his wife Michelle; Catherine Chase and her daughter Allison Parker Peete; Elizabeth Haft and her husband Kenneth along with their children, Joshua, Rachel and Jacob Haft. He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Mary Bonnell Chase, and his sister Elizabeth Jacobsen.
The funeral service will be held at 1pm on Saturday December 4, 2021, at Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to the Chapel of the Cross, 304 E Franklin St. Chapel Hill, NC 27514.