Chester Nazareth Leone, age 93, of Brentwood, TN passed from this life and received the promised crown of glory from his savior on February 24, 2023.
He was born in Brooklyn, NY to the late Cesare & Angelino (Scopolito) Leone January 23, 1930.
He moved to Kittanning, PA and attended Kittanning High School. After graduation he joined the U.S. Marines, serving in Korea during the war and achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant.
He attended Penn State University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business, and had a long and successful career in the insurance business.
After the death of his first wife, Fernanda DeLuca, early in their marriage, he married Dolores Shasho and within a few years became the proud and joyful father of eight children (two of whom preceded him in death).
Over two years ago, after 58 years of faithful marriage, Dolores preceded him in death, to his profound sorrow.
Chet and Dolores raised eight children together, creating a household overflowing with love that persists to this day even as their children have grown and raised children of their own.
Chet was a loving and tender father, who worked hard and provided generously for his large family. He diligently taught them values that he himself modeled—honesty, integrity, hard work, perseverance, loyalty, generosity, and many more. He played and laughed with his kids and taught them to enjoy one another. He instilled in them many enduring family memories, such as singing one-of-a-kind songs together in the station wagon during family trips, and Christmas mornings with their modest living room so full of presents there was
barely room to walk in it. Christmas and other holidays ended with the recording of greetings for relatives on the amazing and novel “tape recorder” device.
Leone family photo sessions were also seared into the family consciousness, with complex photographic equipment in which something or other was always misconfigured or malfunctioning, necessitating several attempts to get that perfect shot of all the kids lined up by height or filling up an entire staircase.
Most importantly, Chet taught his kids to know and love God. He taught them from the Bible or other books at the family table after dinner. He taught them Gospel truth in the context of their lives. He brought the family to church every Sunday without fail, sitting in the front pew so he could be as close to the action as possible. He prayed with his kids when they were sick or in need of anything, whether big or small. He taught them to honor God in all they did, to orient their lives around the truths revealed in Scripture.
Chet had a pastor’s heart and he lived a pastor’s mission. But his congregation consisted of far more than his eight children. He lived to tell as many people as he could about this Jesus who had changed his life. Even prospective customers who declined a sale would then receive a second pitch about God’s love, which was offered freely with no premiums and no term of expiration.
Friends and extended family members, and even strangers who came into his life, would hear his cheerful, enthusiastic testimony of the goodness and glory of God. And many of them responded eagerly, finding a life-long transformative faith.
Chet served as an Elder in his church, and he became a serious student of God’s Word. His teaching and prayer ministry grew over the years, and over two decades ago he became involved in prison ministry, inaugurating what he recently described as “the best 20 years of my life.”
He served briefly on the board of Men of Valor, a Nashville-based ministry bringing the love of Christ to men in prison and forming Christian communities with them after parole or discharge. Chet joined their ministry staff, teaching and counseling men daily in one-on-one sessions and preaching in prison worship services.
It would be impossible to count the number of lives he touched in this service, but in some ways the life he touched most profoundly was his own. Telling others about Christ was his singular purpose, the thing that gave him joy above every other work he contemplated or undertook.
In recent years, as his health slowly declined and his bodily powers faded, he looked forward more and more to that day when he would conclude his earthly journey and dwell in the presence of his savior. Even in recent months, as he endured continuous suffering with little or no hope of relief, he waited patiently for God’s timing.
Like the apostle Paul, he knew that “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” For his own sake, he hoped every day to wake up in Heaven. But he strove to his very last day to recover his strength, enduring exhausting and painful physical therapy sessions with little hope of lasting benefit.
On February 24, the glorious day came, and he woke up in Heaven, in the presence of his savior. His family and all those who loved him are left in deep sorrow at his passing, which those who knew him understand to be the end of an era. Our world will never be the same. But we are comforted and greatly encouraged to know that, through faith in Christ, we will see him again. And we rejoice for him that he has achieved the goal for which he strove throughout his life.
He has “fought the good fight, he has finished the race.” And now he has received that crown of glory, which is in store for all who love our Lord and trust in his promise to hold fast to all who come to him.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, March 5 at Williamson Memorial Funeral Home, 3009 Columbia Ave in Franklin, TN. Visitation will be from 1:00 to 2:00 PM., followed by a service at 2:00 PM. https://www.williamsonmemorial.com
Memorials may be made to Men of Valor Nashville at https://men-of-valor.org.
For more obituaries visit https://williamsonsource.com/obituaries/
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