Tributes

Chester C. “Chet” Tyson, Jr. passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 3, 2015 in his unit in Freedom Village in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Known to some as “Mr. Narberth”, Chet lived 78 of his 96 years in the Borough where he was constantly involved in numerous government, civic and other activities. Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania in 1919, he moved to a home on Sabine Avenue where his parents lived until their passings in the 1970s. After attending Narberth Public School, Ardmore Junior High and Lower Merion Senior High School (Class of 1938), he worked briefly for Hires Root Beer then joined the Pennsylvania Railroad, for whom his father worked as an accounting supervisor. Over his 40 years of service with the Pennsy, and subsequently Conrail, he occupied a number of positions eventually retiring as an Assistant Supervisor of Motive Power Control. In this position in the railroad’s legendary “Blue Room”, he assigned engines to trains throughout the Pennsy/Conrail system. Once retired from the railroad, he jointly owned and operated the Narberth Laundromat for 20 years and was active member of the Narberth Business Council. In 1998, he and his wife Anita (“Teddy”) moved from their home of 50 years on Dudley Avenue to Freedom Village in Coatesville. While living in Narberth, he was active on the 4th of July Committee for some 40 years, was a charter member of the Narberth Community Theater (first as an actor, then in set construction) and served on Narberth’s Centennial Committee. He was an elected member of Borough Council for 13 years and retired as Vice President in 1998. During that time, he directed the Boys Summer Basketball League and founded the Girls Summer Basketball League. He helped build a pavilion at the Narberth Playground which, to his great surprise (and embarrassment), was then unveiled as the “Chet Tyson Pavilion”. He had a difficult time saying “no” to any request that involved the betterment of life in the Borough. Once he moved to Freedom Village, he was elected to the Resident Council several times and became President of the Woodshop, was a member of the Freedom Village Singers and played on the Village’s pocket billiards team. Despite his advancing years, he also volunteered at Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels (to “help the old folks” he claimed, while being over 90 himself). Chet married a fellow Narberth resident, Anita (“Teddy”) MacFarland, in 1943 and they remained happily married until her passing in 2008. They had one son, Peter, two grandchildren, Holly and Timothy, and a daughter-in-law, Megan. Always a man of faith, he was a Deacon and Elder of the Narberth Presbyterian Church and later was active in the United Methodist Church of Narberth and the Central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown. Interment will be private. A celebration of Chet’s life will be held at the Harold Speakman Post of the American Legion (next to the Narberth Library) on Saturday, March 14 from noon to 2:00pm. Donations may be made in his honor to the Roof Fund of the Central Presbyterian Church, 100 W. Uwchlan Avenue, Downingtown, Pennsylvania 19335.

Tributes

Chester C. Tyson

January 12, 1919 - February 3, 2015