| Steven Richard
Chronister
1948 - 2006
"Loving you eternally, Deb"


|
Have
I told you lately that I love you? Eternally, I do.
teven
Richard Chronister entered this world on November 9, 1948, the
son of Shirley (French) Chronister and Richard E. Chronister.
He was born, and lived in York, Pennsylvania until February 22,
2006, when, having experienced 57 years, 3 months and 13 days
of this life, Steve began the next passage of his journey.
Steve was the husband, best friend, and lifelong love of Debbie
Roser Chronister, his high school sweetheart whom he married in
a 2003 sunset service on Trunk Bay, St John, U.S. Virgin Islands
… just the two of them, barefoot in the sand, reuniting
after over thirty years apart. On the beach that evening, a guitarist
strummed, “Have I told you lately that I love you?”,
a song Steve sang to Debbie every day thereafter. It was
a love and union meant to be.
Steve retired as Vice President of Chronister Tool Engineering,
located in York, Pennsylvania. A self proclaimed political conservative
and social liberal, Steve was an avid skier, SCUBA diver, and
airplane pilot with a passion for cars and motorcycles; Steve
was an officer of the Porsche Club of America and member of the
Sports Car Club of York.
A true Renaissance man ... Steve had the mindset of an engineer
and the heart and soul of an artist. He loved cooking as much
as chemistry; traveling, driving fast, diving deep, climbing high
and … to fly. Passionate about life and love, Steve was
a musician who was in a ‘60s band. He expressed life through
music, often quoting Bon Jovi, “It’s my life; it’s
now or never … I’m not gonna’ live forever!”
And that’s how he lived.
His was a brilliant and inquisitive mind, loving oceans, mountains,
earth, heavens, and all creatures … great and small; a gentle
man who loved and was loved well and deeply by his family and
friends. And then, there were his cats… Lillith, Bangor,
and Ozzie, Jr. who loved “their person,” Steve, more
than can be said.
His pride and joy ... Steve's children always remained dear to
his heart, just as he remains in theirs. His daughter, Tracy Lackey,
and his son, Andrew Chronister, live in Colorado, along with their
families. Katie Flinchbaugh, Deb's daughter and Steve's "inherited
daughter," and her family, live in Pennsylvania. Steve's
sister, Susan Alcorn and Gary, her husband and one of Steve's
closest friends, live in York, Pennsylvania, as do Steve's parents
and his wife, Deb. Steve's grandchildren will also remember him
with love: the youngest, Tracy's daughter Hailey, who shares her
Grandpa Steve's adorable good looks; and the eldest, Katie's son
Russel, who shares Steve's sense of humor, love of music, nature,
science, math, and conspiracy theories.
Because of his passion and respect for the oceans as well as
the heavens, a portion of Steve’s remains will also be incorporated
into a molded reef, which will be placed into the waters off the
Florida Coast, where it will become a permanent living legacy
and one with the ocean’s ecosystem. In keeping with his
love and wonder of the heavens and the oceans, Steve will rest
eternally among both … moving through his next life passage,
just as he lived the first, believing:
“Life is not
a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in
a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming,
‘Wow, what a ride!’”
~ |