John Timothy Chesser Jr. (“Jack”), of Wilmington, Del., was born in Augusta, Georgia, on July 11, 1934, and died in Wilmington on September 8, 2026. He was preceded in death by his parents John Timothy Chesser Sr. and Margaret (Culpepper) Chesser, and his sister Francia Chesser. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Nancy Almon Chesser, daughters Lynne McElwee (Dave), Lee Anne Cassidy (Hank), and sons John T. Chesser III (Lori) and Stephen A. Chesser (Tammy), as well as seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Jack attended St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School and Boys’ Catholic High School in Augusta. At Boys’ Catholic, Jack played varsity football, basketball and baseball and earned a scholarship to play football at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. He earned a degree in civil engineering and after graduation in 1956 entered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a second lieutenant where he served until 1958.
While he was on leave from the Army visiting his younger sister Francia at the University of Georgia, she introduced him to her sorority sister and future “best girl”, Nancy Almon. As Jack considered his future after completing his service, friends suggested he interview with the DuPont Company at the Savannah River Plant (SRP) in Aiken, SC. After signing on with DuPont, he and Nancy married and soon after moved to Beaumont, TX, to start their new lives.
Jack’s career in the Engineering Division of DuPont was an uninterrupted trajectory upward, from construction engineer at SRP to field project manager on multiple sites to Director of Construction for Europe. Along the way, Jack and his family lived in eight cities in six states in less than 17 years before settling in Wilmington in 1976. In 1989, DuPont assigned Jack to his dream job in the Netherlands. He and Nancy took full advantage of their European assignment, studying Dutch, visiting dozens of new cities, and hosting family and friends. After his stint in Europe, Jack retired and returned to Wilmington in 1992.
For Jack, retirement meant travel and golf. He and Nancy continued to travel and take the family on amazing vacations. Jack caught the golf bug as a youth growing up in Augusta; he was a fanatic golfer, playing many iconic courses in Europe and the US. He loved playing with his children, grandchildren, and golf buddies at the DuPont Country Club, shooting his age (83) on the DuPont course in 2017.
Funeral services will be held at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church, 10 Old Church Road, Wilmington, on Thursday, September 17. Visitation begins at 9:30am with Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 10:30am followed by a graveside service in the adjoining cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to The Citadel Foundation (https://www.citadel.edu/give/) or the Wounded Warrior Project (https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/).