OBITUARY FOR PAUL V. CHAFFEE
Paul V. Chaffee of Green Valley, AZ, died January 20, 2023 in Green Valley. Born November 6, 1927, the second
child and first son of Frank and Nora (Chaffee) Chaffee of Wattsburg, Erie County, PA.
After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving with occupation forces in Japan from 1946 through 1948. Then he attended Georgetown University in Washington D.C., graduating in 1952 with a B.S. degree. While at the university, he married Patricia Ann Judd of Washington D.C. on June 9, 1951 at Georgetown Presbyterian Church.
In 1954, he qualified as a Certified Public Accountant and returned to Wattsburg, employed by Hammermill Paper Company in Erie, PA. In 1956, he was hired by Eriez and remained there until his retirement as Vice President-Treasurer in 1990. After the death of wife Patricia, he married Gail Smock Davis in Mesa, AZ. They divided their time between homes in Wattsburg and Green Valley, AZ until 2007, when they sold the Wattsburg house, moving full-time to Green Valley.
Active in the United Methodist Church for many years, he served as District Lay Leader of the Erie-Meadville District; Conference Lay Leader and Conference Center Funding Chair of The Western Pennsylvania Conference; Jurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy of the Northeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church; the General Board of Publications; the General Board of Discipleship; and the Special Commission for the Study of Ministry in the General Church. He was a six-time delegate to the United Methodist Church General and Jurisdictional Conferences (1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992).
He served as member and president of Wattsburg Area School Board, as member of the Erie County School Board and Tri-County Intermediate School Board in Northwestern Pennsylvania. He also served twenty years on the Wattsburg Cemetery Association.
Paul Chaffee belonged to the Green Valley Genealogical Society, the Erie County Genealogical Society, and the Wattsburg Historical Society, and in December 2009, published “The Crean Bush Chaffee Family of NW Pennsylvania,” a genealogy .In Green Valley, Arizona, he attended Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, and was an associate memberof Westar Institute.
He belonged to Common Cause, Southern Poverty Law Center, Americans United, the Nature Conservancy, the NAACP, the Interfaith Alliance, the American Birding Association, and at one time, the Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornell University, the Financial Executives Institute, and the National Association of Accountants.
In Arizona, he began painting in oils. His paintings hang in family residences, his church, and at his final place of residence, Silver Springs Assisted Living. His paintings also hang in the common spaces of Pearl Street Commons, Full Circle Communities of McHenry, IL, housing for veterans (Chaffee was a veteran) and personswith disabilities.
He is preceded in death by first wife, Patricia Ann Judd; sister, Helen Biehle of Cleveland, Ohio; and brother, Phillip Chaffee of Corry, PA. He is survived by wife, Gail Smock Davis, son Mark V. Chaffee of Hamilton, IL, and three daughters, Paula N. Scardamalia and husband Bob of Rensselaerville, NY, the Rev. Lauren L. Chaffee of Avondale, AZ, and Cynthia A. Kidder and husband Jeff of Boulder, CO, two stepsons, Ron Davis of Seattle, WA, Robert Davis and wife Judy of Phoenix, AZ, and stepdaughter Karen D. Barr and husband Dan of Paradise Valley,
AZ, his sister Frances Lyon of Lewes, DE, and eight grandsons, one granddaughter, two great granddaughters, and three great grandsons, and numerous nephews and nieces.
In lieu of flowers, memorial remembrances may be made to Americans United, Washington DC; Southern Poverty Law Center, Montgomery, AL; Common Cause, Washington DC; Interfaith Alliance, Washington DC; or Westar Institute, Salem, OR.
No viewing hours will be observed. Private burial will be in Wattsburg Cemetery at the convenience of family.
A memorial observance is planned for 11 a.m., February 24th at the Good Shepherd United Church of Christ in Sahaurita, AZ.