Family patriarch, William C. Oyster Jr. of Chester passed away at East Liverpool City Hospital on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 following a brief illness.

98 years young, Bill was a lifelong resident of Chester and was born here on February 26, 1918 to the late William C. Oyster Sr. and Lucinda Allison Oyster.

Since 1947 he farmed his family farm in Chester and for 17 years he also worked as a construction superintendent with Darin and Armstrong Construction Company of Detroit, MI., retiring in October of 1981.

During WW II, Bill served his country in the South Pacific with Army Air Corps and he was a lifetime member of Chester’s American Legion Post 121 and VFW Post 6450. A faithful Catholic, he was a member of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, The Knights of Columbus and of the Church’s former Men’s Club. Bill was a past president and secretary and member of the Board of Directors of the Hancock County Farm Bureau and a member of the Board of Directors of the Locust Hill Cemetery Association.

He was a preceded in death by his wife, Regina H. Barnes Oyster who he married on July 17, 1947, his son Charles W. (Bood) Oyster, his siblings, Jesse Oyster, George Robert Oyster, and Geraldine Reed.

Bill leaves his loving family, sons, Jim (Betty) Oyster of North Ft. Myers, FL., Dan (Becky) Oyster of Chester, Don (Betty) Oyster of Wiscasset, Main, and Larry (Melanie) Oyster of Ona, WV; his daughters, Mary Lu (Peter) Parker of Orlando, FL., and Rebecca J. (Bob) Crabtree of Greer, SC.; 20 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren. 

Rev. Father Eric Antwi will preside for Catholic Funeral Liturgy at the Church on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Locust Hill Cemetery where the Army National Guard and the Tri-State Veterans Burial Group will accord full military honors. The family will receive friends at the Arner Funeral Chapel in Chester on Friday from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m.

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