Norman C. Chaffee Jr.

Norman C. Chaffee, Jr., Age 67, of Madison, passed away Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at home. Born October 31, 1942 in Painesville, Ohio to Maudie (Johnson) & Norman Chaffee, Sr., he married Sharon Kohler January 11, 1964 in Mentor, Ohio. Norm was a 1961 graduate of Mentor High School. During high school, Norm played football and was on the wrestling team, which he was never pinned. He was also very active in 4-H, in which he was voted 4-H King, and he also took first place in the state for his apple pie. Norm enjoyed doing woodworking projects, such as wooden baskets, puzzles and rocking horses. He also liked doing home improvement projects. Norm also enjoyed playing golf, and he worked part time on the grounds crew at Powderhorn Golf Course and also volunteered as a ranger there. Norm was elected to and served one term on the Madison School Board. He was a Draftsman at Euclid Electric and a Design Engineer at King Musical Instruments. He had worked for Atlantis Corp. and was an inspector for the Concord Fire Department. He joined the Madison Fire Department in 1967, becoming full time in 1976 eventually becoming chief, then retiring in 1991. He held various offices with Lake County Firefighter Association, Lake County Fire Chiefs Association and North East Ohio Fire Prevention Officers. He was an original member of the Lake County Fire Investigations Unit East End. Norm truly enjoyed teaching children about fire safety. He taught several hundred Kindergarteners during fire prevention week teaching them how to check their bedroom door to see if it was hot and how to drop out of a window if necessary. He also taught some fire science to the sixth graders at Camp Whitewood during their camp. Norm started the Madison Fire District Explorer Post 256, which taught teens, through classes and hands on training, about the fire service, of which several members later became or still are in the fire service today. Norman was an instructor at Auburn Career Center and taught Basic Fire Fighting to dozens of new Fire Fighters who have served, still serve or have retired from fire departments in the tri-county area. After several gas well drilling accidents in the local area, Norm wrote a fire code governing oil and gas well drilling to help fire departments try to manage the set-up and safety at drilling sites, it was adopted by the Building Officials Code Administrators International (BOCA) as part of their fire code. In 1990 Norm was asked to be a Citizen Ambassador by People to People International, which he traveled, with several other fire chiefs from around the country, to several of the former Eastern Block nations, such as East Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic; where they met with their foreign counterparts and government officials, had discussion sessions, site visits and an exchange of ideas. Surviving Family: Wife, Sharon Chaffee of Madison, OH; 3 Children, Keith (Lisa) Chaffee of Madison, OH, Tamara (Dwayne) Grimes of Pittsburgh, PA & Scott (Tina) Chaffee of Centerburg, OH; 7 Grandchildren, Madison, Garrett, Brian, Sidney, Taylor, Jack and Mason; Sister, Darla (Dale) Brandt of Perry, OH; 2 Brothers, Dale (Donna) Chaffee of Byesville, OH & Roy (Joanne) Chaffeeof Madison, OH; Mother in Law, Agnes Kohler of Madison, OH Preceded in Death by: His Parents Friends will be received: 2-4:00 and 6-8:00 p.m. Thursday, January 21, 2010, at The Behm Family Funeral Homes & Crematory, 26 River Street, Madison, Ohio. There will be a Fire Fighters Tribute Service at 8 pm. Funeral Service will be held 11:00 am, Friday, January 22, 2010, at Chapel United Methodist Church, 2019 Hubbard Road, Madison, Ohio with the Rev. Randy Weaver & Rev. Matt McClung officiating. Contributions may be made to Hospice of the Western Reserve, 300 East 185th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44119