Obituary of Neville H Chandler
Neville Henderson Anthony Chandler was born on October 24, 1939, to Ekins and Phyllis Maude (Graham) Chandler in Water Hall Land, St. Michael, Barbados. Had he been born in another time, another situation, a man with his scientific capacity would certainly have become a renowned engineer. But growing up as a child of very little means, he had to fight hard to achieve success. Neville had three siblings – Darren Graham, the eldest, Eustace Graham (deceased) and his “baby” sister Angela Yvonne (Vonnie) Peters. His father Ekins died of tuberculosis when he was four years old, and his mother worked hard to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. As a young child he was very interested in pulling things apart to see how they worked. He was not privy to many toys, but if he did receive one he was never satisfied with just playing with it. He would promptly open it up to inspect it and figure out what made it work before putting it back together again. Neville had a neighborhood friend by the name of Colvin Wiltshire who shared his interest, and they would find themselves working late into the night building “telephones” which they strung between the two homes and talked to each other. They were usually interrupted by an irate Phyllis who would chastise them for using up the oil in the kerosene lamp and send them off to bed.
Neville attended St. Leonard’s Boys School, where his best friend Horace Hunte and he were always at the top of the class. He and Horace shared the same curiosity about how things worked. He liked researching and building ham radios and he related how one of his teachers – Mr. Watson, caught him trying to hide one of his creations under his desk. He was sure that he would be severely punished but to his surprise, Mr. Watson, who happened to be a ham radio enthusiast, became his strongest supporter. It was customary at St. Leonard’s Boys School that, at the age of 14, all students would leave the school to go study a trade. However, for the first time in the school’s history, in Neville’s Class of 1954, sixteen students were selected to continue their studies.
Tutors were hired to prepare them for an external exam in Arithmetic, English Grammar, History and Scripture. Neville and his friend Horace were among the 16. Neville was the only one who passed all four exams. He won a scholarship to continue his studies in England. Unfortunately, he had to forfeit that scholarship because his family could not afford it, and he was unable to get any assistance from the government of Barbados. This was a source of great disappointment which plagued him throughout his life.
After leaving St. Leonard’s Neville went to work for Lucas House – an electrical company on Tudor St. in St. Michael – and while there, he wired every house in his neighborhood for electricity. While at Lucas House he was offered an opportunity to work on a ship – ‘The Carib Clipper’ – which traveled between Barbados and Guyana transporting foodstuff. Soon after that he was called to work as an electrician on the ‘Blue Starlines’ – a ship based in Scotland. He flew to Scotland to start his new job. Neville came to the US in the mid 1960’s. He took on several jobs (including that of a gypsy cab driver) before he was hired by Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ. He had several offers, including one in Arizona and another in Hawaii, but chose Bell Labs because of its proximity to New York City. During this time, he attended Rutgers University where he received his degree in Engineering. He worked for over 30 years at Bell Labs. After retiring from Bell Labs, he continued to work as a consultant before relocating to Parkland, Florida.
Neville is predeceased by his parents Ekins and Phyllis Chandler, his son Jamal Malik Chandler and his brother Eustace. He is survived by his daughters - Michelle Graham-Lyons of Plainfield, NJ, Nevette Bailey of Brooklyn, NY and Joanelle Bailey of Rahway, NJ; his son Neville Graham of Lake Placid, FL; granddaughters Ariana, Micaela, Rashida and Eleanore; grandsons Malik, Arlo, Antonio and Jacobsen; great grandson Lennon; his siblings Darren and Vonnie; his dear friend Darling Arzu; a host of nieces and nephews and a large extended family and close friends.
