Gene W. Chilton, 90, civil engineer, owned design firm

Gene W. Chilton, 90, of Deptford, a civil engineer and former owner of a survey and design firm in Cherry Hill, died Wednesday, Feb. 3, at his home.

Mr. Chilton was the oldest trustee at North Baptist Church in Woodbury, which he had joined in 1957, daughter Doris Chilton said.

After being baptized that year, she said, he was named to the church trustee board in 1958.

A Sunday School teacher in his early years at North Baptist, his daughter said, Mr. Chilton had fond memories of ringing the church bell before classes.

Until he sold it in 2008, Mr. Chilton ran Chilton Engineering, first in Camden and then in Cherry Hill.

Born in Nashville, Mr. Chilton was a Navy machinist's mate during World War II and, in the late 1940s, used the GI Bill to earn a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at what is now Tennessee State University.

Mr. Chilton enrolled at Cornell University to study for a master's in engineering, his daughter said, but he withdrew for lack of funds.

He began his career in Cleveland and moved to New Jersey in the 1950s to help survey land for the expansion of the Garden State Parkway.

After working for a Philadelphia engineering firm, his daughter said, he opened his own firm in Camden.

Throughout his South Jersey days, a colleague said, he was a stalwart at his Woodbury church.

"I grew up in that church," parishioner Patricia Kelly said. "He was a gentleman we looked up to."

And, Kelly said, "he was a committed person, because ours is a very small church. He was committed to making sure all the members got good service."

Besides his daughter, Mr. Chilton is survived by a grandson and five great-grandchildren. His wife, Dorothy, whom he married when he was 18, died in 2011. A daughter, Emma Bostic, died in 2006.

A viewing was set from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at North Baptist Church, 1020 N. Evergreen Ave., Woodbury, before an 11 a.m. funeral there, with interment in Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Williamstown.

Donations may be sent to www.alz.org/nj.

Condolences may be offered to the family at carlmillerfuneralhomes.com.

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