Obituary of Melvin Lee Chestnut

Graveside services for Melvin Lee Chestnut, 88, Troup, are scheduled for 1:00 pm, Tuesday, December 27, at Pinecrest Cemetery, Troup with Chaplain Vic Wellmann officiating. Burial will be under the direction of Cottle Funeral Home, Troup. Mr. Chestnut died Friday, December 23, 2011 at his residence. He was born July 8 1923 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to the late Frank Milligan and Rena Marie Bowser Chestnut. He had been an Electro Maintenance Technician for the Federal Aviation Administration.  He served in the air force during World War II. He was airplane armorer gunner in the Asiatic Pacific Campaign and witnessed the atomic bomb dropped on Japan. He had lived in Troup for 30 years and was a member of the First United Methodist Church, Troup. Besides his parents he was preceded in death by his wife, Hope Chestnut in 2004. Survivors include a son and daughter-in-law, Chuck and Elisabeth Chestnut, McLoud, Oklahoma; a daughter and son-in-law, Sherry and Phil Smith, Lindale; and two grandchildren and a grandson-in-law, Rebecca and John Weikle, Beaumont and Matthew Chestnut, Chandler, Arizona; and numerous nieces and nephews.