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Lloyd J. Chastant Marriottsville, MD QCWA # 13553 Chapter 20 |
A day started early in his home office on the radio signaling his W3NF amateur radio call sign to friends
and acquaintances nearby and across the globe. He'd then scratch out his to-do list for the day: landfill,
hardware store, Tai-Chi or yoga (remarkable weekly activities for a man who didn't so much as try to
touch his toes prior to retirement), teach at UMD's Senior University, and, most importantly, see Adelais,
his beloved granddaughter. If you were there with him, you better be ready to move on a moment's
notice. His restless energy meant there wasn't much time between the list being written and the car
speeding down the driveway. On his daily travels, he was ceaselessly upbeat and tried to connect with
those around him in little ways. Waiters, tellers, and clerks were treated to a wisecrack and a friendly
comment to brighten their day. Kids and animals that got close would invariably receive a gruff pat on
the head and "How ya doin?" When the items were crossed off, he'd head home to cook up a proper
Cajun meal for his wife Jan. The day would end with a bowl of ice cream and some more time in that
radio room reaching out across the world before he went to bed to start over again.
Lloyd Joseph Chastant was born on July 8, 1938 in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was born to Anatole Chastant,
a railroad worker and local handyman, and Lydia Broussard, a full time mother. He bought his first
amateur radio with money from his paper route, fell in love with engineering, and learned to dream
about and connect with a world well beyond his small town. He graduated from the University of
Southwest Louisiana (Go Ragin' Cajuns!) with a degree in electrical engineering and took a job in
Maryland with Westinghouse Electric Corporation. He was a key engineer and project manager on some
of the US military's most advanced radar and weapons systems. He traveled the US and the world
building and testing those systems. And, while he wouldn't boast or offer much, you'd could get a story
about skiing the Alps, fishing and hunting deep in the Canadian wilderness, blowing up a target in the
Arizona desert or radar mapping parts of Latin America if you asked.
One of his most important trips was to Panama. It was there he met a school teacher from Iowa on her
summer break. That meeting turned into a romance which turned into an elopement on September 5,
1969. Janis Shover became Chastant and moved to Maryland, starting a 52 year marriage and turning
Lloyd's bachelor house into a home. Three children followed - Boyd, Andrea, then Lynette.
He and Jan searched for a piece of land to build their dream home, and when the house in Marriottsville
was finished, a long driveway led to a house with a forty-foot tower and antenna with guide wires and
cables hanging in all directions in the backyard. He would use that tower until the final years of his life to
connect to and speak to people in over 400 countries and territories around the globe. W3NF,
W...3...Nancy Foxtrot. The property also had fruit trees, a forest, and a stream for his kids to run and
play in. And a front yard big enough to throw long football passes to his son, practice softball with his
daughters, and play badminton, and croquet with the whole family. Every workday ended with some
activity out there before or after dinner.
As his children grew, he was a constant presence on the sideline or in the theater for each sporting
contest or performance. He watched an unimaginable number of football, baseball, basketball, softball,
lacrosse games, and dance performances. He was proud and supportive of his children's many academic,
athletic, and artistic accomplishments and loved the camaraderie of parents in the stands and theater.
Beyond family, work, and amateur radio, he deeply identified with his Cajun roots through food, fishing,
and hunting. He firmly believed Herbert Hoover's quote: "The Lord does not deduct from the hours of
man those spent in fishing." And would happily hitch his boat to the tail of his car on a weekend
morning, take any of his children who would come, drop the boat in Liberty Reservoir, and as soon as it
was underway light a cigar and inform anyone who would listen that the smoke kept the bugs away. His
face seemed uncommonly content holding that cigar as he tossed a worm into the water. Any fish that
were caught were doomed to be a fish fry by nightfall; likely paired with some fried oysters and
homemade fried potatoes. You talk about good.
If he couldn't catch fresh fish, he invariably had a freezer full of shrimp, crawfish tails, boudin, cracklins,
and sausage. When he was a young dad, he'd drive the family to Louisiana to visit relatives. For the trip
back, coolers would be packed full so the family had the best Louisiana seafood for months. For dinner,
he'd regularly whip up an etouffee, gumbo, some red beans and rice, and, if you were brave, a stuffed
cow's tongue, simmered for hours. All dishes were made better with some cayenne peppers grown in his
garden. And, if his peppers didn't grow hot enough, he'd write his sister, Gayle, and have her mail him a
bag of hers. For holidays, he'd make his mother's pecan pie recipe with nuts, not from the store, but
shipped from Louisiana because they were best. Ultimately, food was how he showed love. If he could
make or buy a meal for his family to celebrate or deal with one of life's challenges, he would. As his
children moved away, they learned a Fedex'd box of frozen Cajun delights, even a 10 lb box of frog legs,
could arrive at any time for any reason.
And, while he was proud of the work he did for 39 years at Westinghouse, he retired and found his true
life's work - doting over and helping to raise his granddaughter, Adelais. Nothing brought him more joy
than an excuse to spend time with her. And, he was endlessly proud of her as she observed and engaged
with the world. When Adelais moved with her parents to Wisconsin, the high point of his year was her
week-long stay in Marriottsville to attend the local summer camp. He wanted to take her everywhere
and show her everything, often renaming succinctly the places they went, like the
"Boat Place" and the
"Billy Goat Farm". Every day ended with a stop at The Snowball Stand.
Lloyd passed away peacefully in his home with his family near him on Dec 23, 2021. He is survived by his
wife Jan Chastant; his daughter Andrea Burkholder, who provided significant care for him in his final
years and got to see him keep those wisecracks and friendly comments flowing to his always entertained
doctors, nurses and other caregivers, Andrea's husband Daniel, and granddaughter Adelais of
Shorewood, WI; his son Boyd Chastant and wife Summer Shirey of Los Angeles, CA; daughter Lynette;
two sisters, Gayle Terrebonne and partner James Montgomery of Lafayette, LA; and Karen Kemzuro of
Lafayette, LA; and brother Earl Chastant and wife Ann of Pineville, LA. He is fiercely loved, and will be
deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the Howard County Conservancy (https://www.howardnature.org/), where Lloyd drove Adelais to many a summer nature camp, or Dementia Society of America (https://www.dementiasociety.org/).
The family does not endorse the following tree memorial, please donate to the above listed organizations in lieu of flowers.
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