SUMTER - The Rev. Phares Elwood “Pec” Chatham III, 65, husband of Linda Evans Chatham, died Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at his home.
Born Jan. 29, 1950, in Sumter, he was a son of the late P.E. Chatham Jr. and Katherine Bryan Chatham. He was a member of Grace Baptist Church, Claremont Masonic Lodge No. 64 and the National Rifle Association. Pec enjoyed serving as a bi-vocational pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Eastover, and for 18 years at Second Baptist Church in Manning.
He was an avid gardener and enjoyed tending his vegetable garden.
He was a 1969 graduate of Edmunds High School and later Paris Junior College in Paris, Texas. He also attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. While living in West Columbia, Pec was President of Chat-Nix Inc., doing business as Chatham’s Jewelry and Fine Crystal, as well as owner and operator of Chatham’s Repair Service where he did trade work for as many as 21 stores in South Carolina and other businesses as far away as Hawaii.
In 1994, Pec and his family moved back to Sumter, where he worked for Galloway and Moseley Jewelers as a jeweler and watch repairman from 1994-2012. He had also served as an intern at Galloway and Moseley during high school under Mr. G.B. Moseley Sr.
Survivors besides his wife of 39 years include a son, Phares E. “Jack” Chatham IV (Michele) of Tallahassee, Florida; a granddaughter, Samantha Chatham; three siblings, Kathie Chatham Barron of Hillsborough, North Carolina, Mildred Chatham Barrineau of Sumter, and Dr. Beth Chatham of Columbia, Missouri; a brother-in-law, Larry Turner of Columbia; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by a sister, Georgianna Chatham Turner.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015, at Grace Baptist Church, with the Rev. Dr. Steve Williams, the Rev. Dr. David Dinkins and the Rev. Russell Peek officiating. Burial with masonic rites will be in Evergreen Memorial Park cemetery.
Allen Catoe, Ray Davenport, Roy Atkinson, Daniel Barrineau, Ray Turner and Stewart Atkinson will serve as pallbearers.
The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015, at Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home, and other times at the home.
Memorials may be made to a charity of one’s choice.
Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements.
