Chester A. Giza, retired chemistry department chairman of Wheeling Jesuit College, farmer, beloved father and grandfather, died Wednesday at Wheeling Hospital. He turned 90 last month.
The founder of Brightmont Farm on Walnut Grove Road, Wheeling, he was born in Three Rivers, Massachusetts on May 18, 1930, son of the late Frank and Caroline Giza. He married the love of his life Yueh-hua Chen on June 3, 1961.
He was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Elm Grove.
He earned his BS and MS in Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1955, 1958). He did doctoral work in Organic Chemistry first at Yale and then at Notre Dame, where he received his Ph.D. (1968) in the laboratory of Dr. Ernest Eliel. During this time he published several scientific articles in national and international journals.
He joined the faculty at then Wheeling College in 1967, where he and his wife Yueh-hua Chen Giza were chemistry professors. Dr. Giza served as president of the Chemistry Club and as Chair of the Chemistry department, and retired from Wheeling College in 1989.
His surviving family includes his two sons Christopher C. H. Giza, MD and the Honorable Alexander C. D. Giza of Culver City, California and their spouses, Rosanne C. Giza and Cathy I. Noonan. “Poppy” is beloved by his three grandchildren, Maeve Yueh-hua Giza (22), Kazimir Cormac Giza (19) and Vincent Edward Giza (16). “Uncle Chet” is loved by an extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews from Poland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Kansas, California, Taiwan and Australia.
Friends will be received from 6-8 pm, Friday, June 12, 2020, at Altmeyer Funeral Home, Elm Grove Chapel, 154 Kruger Street, Wheeling, where a vigil service will be held at 7:45 pm. Committal services and interment will be held at 9 am, Saturday, June 13, 2020, at Mount Calvary Cemetery, Wheeling. A future memorial and celebration of life is planned after the current pandemic.
Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 2244 Marshall Avenue, Wheeling, WV 26003.
Date: Friday, June 12, 2020
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location:
Altmeyer Funeral Home - Elm Grove Chapel
Date: Saturday, June 13, 2020
Time: 9:00 am
Valerie Noonan Sheehan posted on 6/21/20
I remember a wonderfully soft spoken man with many lifetimes of wisdom to share, when I was on trips Alex & Cathy's home in Culver City. So sorry to hear of Chester (Poppy) 's passing. May the angels hasten his trip to heaven and may he rest in peace, reunited with his beloved Yueh-hua . Our thoughts & prayers are with you Alex & Chris, Cathy, Rosanne, Meave, Kas & Vincentat this sad time. From Valerie, John & Michael Sheehan in Castletowshend, Co. Cork.