William Adams Chater

William "Bill" Adams Chater died surrounded by his loving family on August 30, 2015 in Asheville NC. He was 79. Bill was born July 21, 1936, in Brooklyn, NY, to William Guy Chater and Janet Conklin Chater. He graduated from the Mount Hermon School and received an undergraduate degree and an MBA from Cornell University. Bill married Betsy Coddington in 1997. His fifty-year career in the insurance industry can best be described with the words serving, giving, and accomplishing. He was President of the Charlotte, Western North Carolina, and North Carolina Association of Life Underwriters. He was also president of the Western NC Health Underwriters, which he helped found, as well as president of the Charlotte Association of General Agents & Managers. Several of these organizations achieved national recognition during his tenure. Bill was recognized as Advisor of the Year by the Western NC and North Carolina Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and was very active in the Chartered Life Underwriter societies and Estate Planners councils in Charlotte and western NC. While a recognized leader in the industry, Bill is best remembered as a teacher and helper –educating and encouraging hundreds of agents as a Life Underwriter Training Council instructor, an adjunct faculty instructor at Appalachian State University, and continuing education author and instructor, and through his daily assistance to agencies and individual agents throughout North and South Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Bill enjoyed doing anything with family, children, and grandchildren; loved to travel; enjoyed racquet sports and was a particularly lethal handball player; and had a lifelong and Zen-like reverence for trout fishing. He was very active in Kenilworth Presbyterian Church where he served as an Elder and choir member, and was a strong supporter of the United Way. Bill is survived by his wife Betsy, his son Bill, Jr. and his wife Rebecca, his daughter Missy Greer and her husband Frank, and his special stepson Christopher King and his wife Jennifer. Also surviving are his beloved grandchildren Katie, Riley, Zeke, Eli and Caleb. He was also survived by his sister Debby Richman (Peter) of New Jersey and his brother Mike Chater (Maude) of Vermont. A memorial service will be held September 19, 2015, at Kenilworth Presbyterian Church at 2 PM, with a reception immediately following. Memorials may be made to Kenilworth Presbyterian Church (123 Kenilworth Rd, Asheville, NC 28803) or Loving Foods Resources (PO Box 25142, Asheville, NC 28813), in the name of William Chater. Groce Funeral Home on Tunnel Road is assisting the Chater family.