Philip Lee (Skip) Chesley

Philip Lee (Skip) Chesley

July 21, 1940 - Sept. 15, 2021

SPOKANE, Wash. — Philip Lee (Skip) Chesley passed on Sept. 15, 2021, at age 81 in Hospice of Spokane. He was born July 21, 1940, in Puyallup, Wash., to Lloyd Wynnette and Minnie Marie (Morris) Chesley.

After serving in the US Air Force, he followed his father into the IUOE and worked as an operator and heavy-duty diesel mechanic all his working life. He paved roads on Mount Rainier and the Cascade passes in Washington, roads and bridges all over Alaska and was in an early Cat train to Prudhoe Bay constructing the runway to bring in equipment for the Alaska pipeline. His talent for diagnosing mechanical problems and fixing them made him invaluable in remote areas. He loved talking about working in Alaska including pipeline stories. During the 1970s, he owned the roadhouse Tryphs near Fairbanks with his first wife, Karen. Hobbies included fishing (“Salt water is the only kind!”) and working on engines and equipment. He lived in Washington, Alaska, and Nebraska. He loved travelling, especially RVing and claimed he had driven the AlCan Highway more than 50 times.

His parents, one sister, Kay and her husband, Vern Olson, preceded him in death. He is survived by his sister Joy, her husband, Bob Wattenbarger; and his wife, Margaret of 37 years. In his blended family there are six children, Larry Chesley and Cindy Stone in Alaska, Karl Chesley and wife, Michelle in Colorado, Jim Briggs and wife, Laura, Paula Freeman, and Christy Mengert and husband, Mark in Washington; more than 19 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter.

Phil was a member of the Methodist Church, a 25-year member of Freemasons, Shrine, Eastern Star, Knights Templar and White Shrine of Jerusalem. One of his joys was to drive children to the Shriner’s Hospital in St Paul, Minn.

A Celebration of Life will be at Spokane Valley United Methodist Church on July 18, 2022, at 2 p.m. Memorials can be sent to Shriner’s Hospital for Children.