Chester Mckinzie

GRAVESIDE SERVICE: 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at Oakwood Cemetery in Comanche County, Texas. VISITATION: Family will receive friends at Comanche Funeral Home on Monday, September 4, 2018 from 6:00-9:00 P.M. LUNCH:  Lunch for the family will be at First Baptist Church following the funeral services.
Chester Wayne McKinzie, age 98, died September 1, 2018, in Austin, Texas, at the Brush Country Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. He was born in Comanche, Texas, January 19, 1920, to John Hnery and Lela McKinzie. He spent his early years living and attending school in the Newburg Community, and later attending and graduationg from Comanche High School. He spent a semester on an agriculture work study program at John Tarleton College in Stephenville until the war broke out. He felt the need to serve his country and traveled to Abilene with a bus-load of Comanche men to enlist, but to his dismay he was rejected because of his eyesight, so he returned home to Comanche. Chester then began his life long career associated with the Durham family and also met his future wife, Charlotte Durham. He started out working in Durham’s Pharmacy. Later with Charlotte’s father, N.N. Durham, they began Durham’s Drug Products Company. They manufactured veterinary and agriculture products, Durham’s Anesthesia Mop- for sore throats and the still popular, Durham’s Pecan Topping. He and Charlotte continued this business for over 50 years until their retirement. Chester and Charlotte were married on January, 29, 1943. They spent 67 years together enjoying family, grandchildren, friends, running their business and traveling (especially cruises) until her death in 2010. He lived his last 1 ½ year in Austin, to be near his family. He was a member of the First Baptist church and the Pairs and Spares Sunday School class in Comanche. He was a 60 year member of the Evening Lions Club and a former Comanche City Council Member. In his later years, he enjoyed meals and visiting at the Comanche Senior Citizen Center and exercising at the Comanche Wellness Center. He is preceded in death by his wife, Charlotte McKinzie; his brothers, John Ory McKinzie and Jewell McKinzie; a sister, Melba Smith; brother-in-law,  Ted Durham; sister-in-law, Gladyce Durham;  brother-in-law, Lannes Hope; and sister-in-law, Peggy Hope. Chester is survived by his daughter Patti and husband Ed Schultz, grandson, Jonathan Schultz, granddaughter, Sara and husband Enrique Espinoza III, and great-grandchildren Kique and Zeke Espinoza, all of Austin, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. We are very thankful for the kind, caring and hard-working staff at Brush Country Nursing and Rehabilitation and the Heart to Heart Hospice for their care in Austin, and for his many friends in Comanche that stayed in touch over the miles.