Chester "Chet" Gordon Oehme, Jr

Our community has lost Chester “Chet” Gordon Oehme, Jr, 89, of Fayetteville, NC, who passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at his home surrounded by his loving family.  Chet was born on May 25, 1934, in Princeton, MA, to the late Chester Gordon Oehme and Lea Maria Maki Oehme.  He retired from the U.S. Air Force after 30 years of dedicated service.

Chet is survived by his wife, Gillian Oehme; children, Debra Oehme, Chester “Chip” Oehme, III (Eterna), Craig Kellum, and Jason Kellum; grandchildren, Gillian Gibson (Austin) and Madison Kellum; great-grandson, Jack Gibson; and brothers, Richard Oehme, Robert Oehme (Gloria), and Lee Oehme (Ronnie).

The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m until 1:50 p.m. on Friday, May 3, 2024, at Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home, followed by a memorial service beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel.  Full military honors will be rendered during the service. 

A livestream of the service can be seen on our Facebook page. The livestream will begin 5-10 min before the service starts:  https://www.facebook.com/JerniganWarren/

 In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Rick Oehme Foundation, Bank of America, Attn: Bonney Johnson, 900 SE Federal Highway, Suite 210, Stuart, FL 34994-3733 or to the Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675.

Online condolences may be made to www.jerniganwarren.com

Arrangements by Jernigan-Warren Funeral Home, 545 Ramsey St., Fayetteville, NC 28301.

Chet’s journey in life began from very humble beginnings.  He was the eldest son of first-generation American parents. His paternal grandfather immigrated from Germany and his maternal grandparents immigrated from Finland. He was named after his father, so his three brothers and extended family always referred to him as “Sonny.”  When he was five, his father took a job as the grounds superintendent of a large estate owned by the wealthy Proctor family in the town of Central Valley, New York, located in the Hudson Valley near West Point. His early life began in a seemingly idyllic setting, one you might find in any small, rural town in the northeast. 

While he may have grown up living in a quaint farmhouse on a wealthy industrialist’s estate, his formative years were anything but easy. The Great Depression was just coming to an end, but times were still challenging. Chet’s father was strong-willed and very demanding, leveling huge responsibilities on the family. The family grew most of their own produce and raised a variety of farm animals, and when meat was in short supply, Chet accompanied his father into the mountains to hunt wild game.  He was seven when the United States entered World War II, which lead to rationing and other hardships for most Americans.

Like many kids who grew up in the 1940s, Chet attended a schoolhouse that housed all grades, first through twelfth, and his graduating class numbered only ten students. In addition to excelling academically in high school, he worked everyday after school and many weekends. His father also assigned him a long list of daily chores to complete on the farm, which arguably shaped his character and established a strong work ethic.  But it was his mother, Lea, a sweet, gentle and kind soul, who was clearly the nurturing force in Chet’s life, a force that molded him into the generous and kind man he would eventually become.  

After graduating from high school in 1951, Chet attended Syracuse University for two years, but then decided to join the relatively new U.S. Air Force. He was accepted into the Aviation Cadet Program, located in Harlingen, Texas, where he earned his pilot wings and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant at the age of 21.  During his stellar 30-year military career as a pilot of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, he accrued over 10,000 flight hours and rose to the rank of colonel.  He served in many staff and leadership roles during that period, but his most defining assignment was commander of the 56th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron during the Vietnam War, where he flew and orchestrated rescue missions in hostile territory around the country.  He eventually retired in 1983 as the base commander of Charleston Air Force Base.

After his illustrious Air Force career, Chet joined a highly successful real estate firm in North Carolina.  Through diligence and hard work, he received the prestigious Realtor of the Year award in 2004 and, later, the NC Realtor Association Regional Service Award. 

Although time was precious during this phase of his life, he found the energy to volunteer on numerous civic boards and support service-minded community organizations.  In essence, he directed his leadership skills and organizational abilities in new and impactful ways, markedly improving the reach of many institutions.  And of course, like many retired Air Force officers, he found time for the golf links, where he shot close to scratch in his younger days and often beat his age in latter years. 

Most significantly, Chet’s profound impact on family, friends, and colleagues is a clear sign that God had a plan for him, one marked by love, unselfishness, and true kindness. His spirit will live on in everyone he has touched, and for that, we are truly grateful.

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