Chester B. May, 90, of Huntsville, passed away Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Chet was born at home in McAndrews, Kentucky, to Betty and Frennie May, one of 13 children. His mother eventually ran a boarding house where he helped wash dishes and delivered papers on horseback in Williamson, West Virginia, graduating from Williamson High School. Then he served 4 years in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, spending some time in Japan. When he returned to Williamson, he drove his younger sister to her senior picnic where he met her friend, Anita Louise Horne. Three months later on August 3, 1956, they were married and moved to Huntington where he would use the GI bill to attend Marshall University and earn an engineering degree in 1961.
Chet was offered a job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where he worked until NASA offered him an opportunity to be a pioneer in aeronautical space engineering with Dr. Werner Von Braun in 1966. Chet, Louise, and their children, Jill and Jesse, set up a home in Huntsville, Alabama, Chet’s favorite place to live. Later, they would complete their family with daughter, Jayna.
In 1969, Chet was appointed by Dr. Von Braun to be NASA’s representative on the Gulf Stream Drift Mission in the Ben Franklin submarine to study how scientists could work and live together in a closed environment in preparation for space travel – one of his proudest achievements. He stayed with NASA until retirement in 1985.
Along the way, Chet always made his family a priority. He enjoyed camping vacations, horseback, and motorcycle rides, acting in local theater productions, spending time at Tim’s Ford lake where he built a lake house, and coaching his children (and later his grandchildren) in a variety of sports. Many in Huntsville still remember him as Coach May. Also, he was an active member of First Christian Church where Louise was Day Care Director for 26 years. Chet took charge of the church’s drama program, as well as working with the youth groups with Louise. The made lifelong friends at First Christian. As much as Chet loved his NASA career, his family was his pride and joy.
Chet was preceded in death by his parents, siblings, and his daughter, Jayna May Gillespie. He is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Anita Louise May; his daughter, Jill May Chadwick (husband, David); son, Jesse Duane May (wife, Carol); son-in-law, Woody Gillespie (wife, Jill) of Huntsville; grandchildren, Travis Heath Wood (wife, Jenny) of Atlanta, Morgan May Myers (husband, Taylor), Cody Bruce Wood (wife, Angel), Connor Jesse May (wife, Lillie), May Merrill Gillespie, Katelyn Mei-Ling Chadwick, and Maggie Grace May, all of Huntsville; great-grandchildren, Henry Travis Wood, Avery Gene Wood, Virginia May Myers, Wendell Shepherd Myers, Wheeler Jesse Myers, Rowan Bruce Wood, and River Jessie Wood.
A celebration of life will be at 12:00 noon Saturday, December 17, 2022, at First Christian Church of Huntsville.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Christian Church Early Childhood Ministry or Hospice Family Care.
