Obituary of Eric Chancellor

Eric Worth Chancellor was born April 18, 1930, in Mansfield, Texas to Mary Maulene Williams Chancellor and Howard Blake Chancellor. He passed away peacefully on March 27, 2022, at the Faith Presbyterian Hospice in Dallas, Texas. His devoted wife, Mary Patricia, was at his side. He was preceded in death by older brother Howard Chancellor and younger brother Larry Chancellor and younger sister Jerry Chaimberlain. Eric grew up in Ft Worth, Texas, attending public schools where his mother was a career teacher, counselor, and principal. At the age of 16, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps using a forged birth certificate. His service in the Marines was in China where he hosted a military radio program for service members in the region. He also served as a Chaplin’s assistant. It was this Chaplin who hosted a radio program that helped Eric secure his own radio program at the station. After discharge from the military, Eric attended classes at TCU and then UNT where he earned his bachelor’s degree. Eric worked in insurance sales after college and sold Yellow Pages advertising for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Eager to travel, he responded to an ad in the Star Telegram for insurance sales in Europe. He spent the next ten years selling policies to US service members. His assignments included cities in Europe and North Africa. He eventually became manager for German Operations for the Occidental Insurance Company selling policies to the military. It was in this capacity that he met Mary Patricia Bowers, a single native Texan, a widowed mother with two young sons. The couple married in London, England in January of 1965. The young couple decided to return to North Texas where they welcomed a new daughter. Eric then adopted the boys, forming a new family for the formerly confirmed bachelor. Unable to resist the call of European capitals the family returned to Germany and England for a year before settling in Ft Worth. Finally ready to strike out on his own in business, he and a partner started an independent Yellow Pages directory in the Oklahoma City suburbs of Midwest City and Del City, Oklahoma. Eric commuted weekly from Ft Worth to Oklahoma City for two years until he was convinced that the new business was successful enough to support the family. He moved the family to Edmond, Oklahoma. With the arrival of another daughter the family moved to a larger home in Oklahoma City as the business flourished. His little Yellow Pages business grew from one directory to 25 with markets in five southern states. Southwestern Directory Company became one of the largest independent directory companies in the United States at a time when the industry was dominated by telephone companies. In addition to Yellow Pages directories, Eric’s Southwestern Directory Company collected aircraft. He and his officers showed up at a national industry meeting with a single engine plane in 1978 and again in 1979 with a new twin engine plane. Eric sold the business in 1985 to a large publisher owned by the Dunn & Bradstreet Corporation. Unable to completely retire from business, Eric began investing in real estate, buying and selling assets from the Resolution Trust Corporation. In 1987 the family moved to Dallas to be closer to his mother and siblings who all lived in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. In addition to his wife of 57 years, Mary Patricia, he is survived by sister-in-law Sylvia Chancellor of Hurst, Texas. Son, Ken, and wife Sherri Chancellor of Oklahoma City. Son, Stephen and wife Shari Chancellor of Frisco, Texas. Daughter, Chandra and husband Mike Burress of Dallas, Texas. Daughter, Laura and husband Paul Hudson of Dallas, Texas. His grandchildren include: Lindsey Chancellor and husband Mason Williams of Oklahoma City; Shelby Chancellor of Denver, Colorado, Adam Chancellor of Oklahoma City; Cameron Burress of Dallas, Texas; Caiden Burress of Dallas, Texas; Blake Hudson of Dallas, Texas; Britain Chancellor of Frisco Texas; Hunter Hudson of Dallas, Texas; MacKinnon (Mac) Hudson of Dallas Texas. Arrangements by Merit Memorial Funeral and Cremation Care, Telephone 972-810-1700. Visit my.gather.app/member/eric-chancellor to see photos and complete details of the Celebration of life for Eric Worth Chancellor. Service will be held at 3:30 PM on April 5, 2022, at Lover’s Lane United Methodist Church in the Wesley Chapel, 9200 Inwood Rd. Dallas, Texas. Live stream the service at www.llumc.org/ericchancellormemorial .