Mr. William Randall Chester, Sr., age 69, of Nicholson, GA died Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at St. Mary’s Hospice House.
Mr. Chester was born in Jackson County to the late W. T. and Cathel Palmer Chester. He was a member of River of Life Worship Center in Nicholson, GA, and an ordained minister in the Congregational Holiness Church. Mr. Chester was a pastor, educator and missionary to Costa Rica for many years. In addition to his parents, Mr. Chester was preceded in death by his brother, Tommy Chester.
Mr. Chester is survived by his wife, Sharon Waite Chester of Nicholson; sons and daughters-in-law, Randall and Mackenzie Chester of Clarksville, GA,Tommy and Connie Chester of Fayetteville, NC and Derek and Laura Chester of Denton, TX; daughter, Sherry A. Chester of Athens; brothers, Ray Chester of Nicholson, Oral Chester of Commerce and Kenneth Chester of Jefferson; sisters, Barbara Wilson of Johnson City, TN, Phyllis Vaughn, Wanda Weldon and Pam Daniels all of Nicholson; grandchildren, Isaac, Zachary, Rosie, Paloma, Alice, Lael and Kells; and brother-in-law, Don Waite.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a. m., Friday, November 11, 2011, at River of Life Worship Center with Rev. Bobby Ivester and Rev. J. D. Sosebee officiating.
Interment will follow in Nicholson Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home Thursday night from 5 to 7 PM.
[Editor's Note: I have known Randall Chester's wife, Sharon Waite Chester, since she was a teenager in youth camp. While I was in seminary, Melvine and I worked in the Youth Camp at River Springs, AL, where Sharon was a camper. Sharon teaches ESOL in Hall County. Their son, Tommy is the Youth Pastor at Northwood Temple in Fayetteville, NC, where John Hedgepeth is the pastor.
Barbara Chester Wilson, wife of Charles Willson, were faithful members of Tarkenton Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church when I was the senior pastor in Athens, GA. Charles was a Sunday school teacher, a deacon and the emcee of our Sunday evening radio broadcast that reached five states: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. Charles is a gifted evangelist as a layman and a super salesman in his work. His resonate and calming voice brought excitement and joy to our radio listeners, as well as the congregation each Sunday. Barbara was president of our Women's Ministries. They were both vitally interested in world missions and gave generously to support our missionaries.
Our hearts go out with love and compassion to this family in their grief. We pray that the God of all comfort will bring them an abiding peace in their significant loss. The Apostle Paul wrote, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV). We are believe that Randall is now in heaven where we all want to go, someday.]
Posted on
Fri, November 11, 2011
by Hugh Morgan