March 12, 2017

Funeral for Bill Chenault, 86, of Huntsville and formerly of Decatur was Thur., March 16, at 1 p.m. at Peck Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Michael Lightfoot officiating.

Burial was in Center Springs Methodist Church Cemetery.

Mr. Chenault died Sun., March 12, 2017, at his home. He was born March 1, 1931, in Danville to the late Alfred Wesley Chenault and Ollie Mae Williams Chenault. He was a very kind and hardworking man who loved his wife, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brothers and sisters. He enjoyed gardening, yard work, fishing, family gatherings, church and travel. He attended Danville and Decatur schools and afterwards entered the United States Air Force in 1951 serving his country for two years including marching in President Eisenhower’s Inauguration Parade in 1953. He married Sarah Jo Allen Chenault on April 25, 1954, in Iuka, Miss., and remained happily married for nearly 63 years until his passing. He worked in the grocery business and invested in real estate in Decatur for several years before he moved to Huntsville in 1969 where he owned and operated several successful Food Town grocery stores in southwest Huntsville. Later on, he worked as a car salesman in Huntsville and Decatur until his retirement where he received Top Salesman of the year honors. Mr. Chenault professed his faith in Christ and was baptized at the Cornerstone Community Church in Huntsville where he and Sarah Jo were both members and attended faithfully for many years.

He was proceeded in death by his father and mother, Alfred Wesley Chenault and Ollie Mae Williams Chenault; father and mother in-law, Howard Fredrick Allen and Alma Ruth Billings Allen; brothers, Wesley Dwight Chenault and Kenneth Chenault; sisters, Lucille Franks and Hazel C. Ward; and infant daughter Marquita Chenault.

He is survived by his wife, Sarah Jo Allen Chenault of Huntsville; two children, Bronwyn Ann Chenault Brown (Charles Steven) of Huntsville and Anna Lane Chenault Sexton (Jeffrey Dale) of Huntsville; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; two sisters, Betty Bunch of Decatur and Faye Corum (Clifford) of New Hope.