chronister

Duane Chronister was a man who loved life. He loved his family and friends and knew how to live life to its fullest, surrounded by those who cared for the most. Duane entered this life in Whittier, California, on October 14, 1947, and entered eternal life in Downey, California, on June 7, 2000. Born to J.H. and Loretta Williams Chronister, he leaves to cherish his memory, and to celebrate the way he touched their lives, his beloved mother, Loretta; his brother and sister-in-law, Garry and Tammy; a nephew, Jay, his love, Linda Robinson; aunts, uncles, cousins; and a group of friends whose presence in his life he cherished, and whose lives were enriched by his presence in theirs.
I remember our first Halloween party that Diane & I had at our apartment. Duane brought this girl dressed up in a full clown costume. For 3/4 of the night she would not tell me who she was, and she kept saying that I knew her. Of course I didn't have the foggiest idea who she was. The creative side of Duane came dressed wearing a Mexican hat, a serape and wings on his back. Remember Cathy? (Cathy was the clown.) I asked Duane what he was and he said he was a "Spanish Fly".
I know we all have our special "Duane Stories" - always remember them! He has inspired all of us with his unselfish love, kindness and caring. There is not one among us that Duane would not have done anything for! That is Character.
What a blessing we have all had by knowing Duane. Anyone could talk to him and he would listen. He had helped us through our personal problems, cared about our families, our children, our wives or husbands and friends.
Loretta, we all loved your son very much, as shown here today by all of Duane's friends.
well duane-ee.. its your favorite little cousin.. (Ashley Gosting) as everyone allready knows duane was the most wonderful caring man in the whole world.. he meant alot to our family.. he was the "character" in the family.. we went on many houseboat trips duane would sleep on the roof under the stars with his blanket when he would wake up in the morning he would have little fuzz balls all over his face.. pam would call him scruffy.. he was the funniest man i ever knew.. i miss him soo much its unexplainable.. he got me my first job and boy was i lucky i got to work with him everyday. I worked with him at sevylor. we would have so much fun i was always in his office bugging him but i think he loved it. everyone at sevlor spoke only good thing about him nobody ever had a bad thing to say about him.. he was the best cousin anyone could ever have.. i miss lonesome bob and all the other crazy things he did. i remember one year we had a funny hat contest and he had on a white baseball cap that he wrote ha ha ha all over and in the front he stapled to it a picture of me.. everyone got a kick out of that hat.. he enjoyed making everyone laugh.well its been 10 months now and theres not a day that goes my that i dont think of you and miss you.. by the way all your goofy stuff is in my room and i promise to take good care of it.. i love you duane take good care of my grandma up there o.k... i love you with all my heart..you will always be remembered..love always and for ever ashley
It has taken me awhile to write my tribute to my precious cousin Duane. Life has not been the same since you left us. Your passing caught everyone by surprise. I could not believe it was really true. I could not physically drive because I was grieve stricken. It was awful. It is still awful. But I have your picture on my mantle and look at you and send you kisses everyday. We miss you more than you could ever know. I know you were watching from Heaven at all the people who spoke of you at your service. Your were a one of a kind guy. We all miss you terribly but think of you every day and we know your were greeted by all our love ones who had already passed when you went to heaven. You now have your Aunt Betty up there with you. I know you have helped Mom on her way to Heaven. Mom always adored you and now you are together. You both are probably making fun of us down here. You will always be in my heart and I know we will see each other again soon....Love, Jan
Duane Chronister, The Best Man, a eulogy by Joe Luckey.
I've been friends with Duane since we started kindergarten together at Hollydale School...and we stayed friends all through grade school, junior high school, high school, and up to the present.
He was the best man at my wedding, and as Steve said, he was the best man at Steve's wedding...and he was the best man at John Frasier's wedding...and he was the best man at John Kennedy's wedding...HE WAS JUST THE BEST MAN!
Another thing about Duane...our kids loved him so much, as I'm sure Rob's kids did, and kids of others of you out there. I felt bad that Duane didn't have kids of his own. He would've been such a great father. I had always thought, in the back of my mind, that if anything ever happened to me, Duane would be a dad to my kids.
Duane was such a great person. As Rob said, he had two failed marriages...I don't know what was wrong with those two women...what they couldn't see, but they really missed out.
Whenever any time passed and us guys hadn't gotten together or hadn't communicated with each other in a while, Duane would make the effort to pull us back together. He would talk about old times, have us play a round of golf or just go to a movie. He always remembered your birthday and called when he had a chance. He always kept in touch.
I'm really going to miss him...I'm going to miss him alot.
He was my best childhood buddy...HE WAS THE BEST MAN!
Hi, there,
I think I know most of you here, but for those of you who don't know me, I'm Rob. I've been a close friend of Duane's for a long time.
I know how sad you've all been for the last few days. I have too. But do you think Duane would want us to be sae? Come on, you all know Duane. Duane has never liked to see people sad. When Duane knew you were sad, he made sure that didn't last long.
So, let's try to mourn for Duane just a little, and to celebrate his life a lot. Some day, we'll all be with Duane again, but for now, just think how lucky we are to have had Duane around for 52 years.
Look around you. There's lots of people you know, and lots of people you don't know. It's unbelievable how one person could have so many different circles of friends and stay close to all of them. Although email did make things a little easier for the last couple of years, Duane has ALWAYS kept in touch with everyone.
Going back all the way to elementary school, Jr. High and High School. There's lots of people here from those days. Then, there's Georgia Street Gang. There's Krako. There's Sevylor. And the Long Beach Crowd. Most of us would go through life, make many acquaintances and a few good friends, and move on. But not Duane. He's make friends with everyone, and stay friends with them forever. And, bring happiness along the way.
Of course, there were a couple minor breaks in Duane's continuity, like the brief trip to Chico, and a couple of short-lived excursions to the altar. But, no matter what, you could always count on Duane to be a good friend, a caring friend, a fun friend, a silly friend. Whoever made friends with Duane was lucky. He had a friend forever.
No matter what, Duane's family came first. And he loved them very much. He was by far, the best son that a mother could ever have, and for the past 6 years, there was another very special person in Duane's life...Linda. Linda made Duane even a happier person.
As much fun as Duane was to have around all of the time, he was extra special at Halloween. Who could ever forget MacTonite, and Jack in the box, and Elvis' Mom, and a whole series of Cowboys. I think that in an earlier life, Duane was a cowboy. And my personal favorite...the bum with the shopping cart who was so realistic that the host of the Halloween party called the police to have him removed from the front lawn.
We all have a ton of special memories of Duane. And who here hasn't heard him sing "Feliz Navidad"? Let's think about the happy times, and let's try not to be sad. Duane wouldn't want it.
I must admit, I do have one pretty big concern. Who at Sevylor do I call for free inflatables? I'll miss you, Duane, but I'm sure glad I knew you!
Dear Duane,
We first met some twelve years ago through a business relationship. I thought "who is this strange character that could care less about how things have been done in the past or what I thought it would take to get the business done in the future? Who was this young man with the BIG mustache and beneath that fir an even BIGGER smile?" I soon found out how he loved a joke. He would tell some and loved to hear some. Little did I know he saved them up for his Thursday night out with the boys. A good excuse to have a beer or two...more importantly, the time with friends. Duane never paused to wonder if what he said was wrong or right because he knew he was most often times right. How could this man who looked more like a side kick of Daniel Boone be so organized in his business life? Whenever you though you could sweet talk Duane into doing something to circumvent the Sevylor system, he would just laugh and say GO AHEAD and try. It was even worse if you tried to go over his head straight to Conny, because I think he would even tell Conny, "NO WAY, that is against policy." But, through it all, he would find ways to help you out.
Always quick to inquire about family members and what they were doing. I don't mean the kind of small talk that many of us engage in, but rather, a genuine concern about their well-being. He was the REAL THING. My life has changed for the better because of Duane. He has taught me to look at the important things such as family and friends. He often spoke of his mother, and the many things he wanted to do for her, and oh, the excitement of the recent family get together in Las Vegas! He spoke of Linda and where their lives were headed. Duane was the type of person that you knew you wanted to know better. He really was a kind guy, but I sometimes think he would pretend he was tougher than nails. No girly-girly feelings would be worn on his shirt sleeves.
Well, now we have to bid him farewell. But, if we think a moment, Duane will be with us all for a long, long time. How can any one of us who knew him think he is gone? He remains in our minds, our hearts and our souls. We will all act a little differently because of Duane. I know that I will take a little more time to spend with my friends. I will try to give and not ask for anything in return, as he did. I will try to do my job according to the rules and when I fail and break one of those rules, I will here his voice say, "Hey, you dan't do that, just go ahead and try". Duane has not left us because he remains in our minds, our hearts and our souls. I love you, dear friend. Gregg.
I still cry every day, I feel the pain of a lost friend. The sadness we all experience from not being able to see Duane again. But, I am so proud of what Duane has given me/us. He will always be in my heart and not a day will go by that I won't think of him.
My life is a little dimmer now, with the loss of this man who brought me so much light in my life. This man that I love so much. Our last communication was over a week ago. We were e-mailing each other on the upcoming class reunion. He finished his e-mail with, "I Love You, Man", and I say to you, Duane, "I Love You, Man."
Duane would want to make this a day of celebration. Yes,I will cry a little whenever I think of him. I still feel the pain and sadness of his loss. But I know Duane, and he is with Jesus Christ, my Savior and he always loved to party, so I say..."Let the Party in Heaven Begin"