Everything
you always wanted to know about Chet but were afraid to ask*
*Or just didn't care
enough to listen the first time.
Chester Ray Hanchett was born in Empire, California on October 2, 1919.
For those of you who aren't very good with history, that means he was born
before the invention of e-mail, television, electricity, and yes, oxygen
(people just held their breath a lot back then). His parents were Henry
and Florence Hanchett and he was the 2nd of 7 children (can you say, Wow?
I think you can). He didn't always have shoes (this was before loafers,
so he just wasn't interested), but he and his pal Bob Secrest would often
be found on their roller skates with their dime for the local movie house
(pornos were much cheaper then).
He graduated from Modesto Highschool in 1937 (that would make him officially
old). There he studied mechanics, because he couldn't afford the wood to
study carpentry (that's why I picked psychology over physics. Really!).
After school, he went into the Army and worked on motorcyles and tanks
for our fightin' men of World War II. He rose to the rank of Master Sergent
(most likely he slept his way to the top). While in the Army, he met and
was tipped over onto his butt by Jean Sutt. They fell in love, but decided
on a long engagement lasting a little under a month. They were married
on September 2nd, 194something (you don't expect me to know EVERYTHING,
do you?), and proptly left for France (talk about romance!), well at least
Chet did (nevermind). He toured in Nice, and after he single handedly beat
the Nazi's (at least that's the story he tells us!), he returned to his
new bride and began a long career at Andres Harley Davidson in Modesto,
California. He spent over 40 years there (making him REALLY old), and loved
nearly every minute of it (okay, so some of it sucked). On June 24th, 1947,
Chet became a proud papa of one Diane Christine Hanchett and his life's
never been the same (just stating the facts, not saying whether it was
bad or good mind you).
Cool Stuff he's done:
1)One-handed handstand on the Don Pedro Dam. And he says that I'm crazy
for driving over the speed limit!
2)Had a short motorcycle racing career as well as a stunt career.
3)Tried to get arrested (don't ask).
4)Got his pilot's lisence, "just for the hell of it".
5)Went skydiving when he was in his 70's. Yes, he jumped out of a perfectly
good airplane. Nutbag.
6)Does the crossword with a pen. Need I say more?
Okay, that's all I can think of at the moment. Okay, a little more, he
goes bowling twice a week, drives an original '67 VW Bug, has a new dog
named Shadow #2, smokes a lot, and goes by the nickname of God, due to
the fact that he's the most intelligent man on the planet and can fix any
mechanical item known to man (though he has trouble setting a VCR. We'll
let that one pass). That is the long and short of the man I call my grandfather
(at least in mixed company). I'm sure he'll let me know all of the things
I missed. It's just a matter of time.