Milton Joseph Chaison, Jr.

Milton Joseph Chaison, Jr., a devoted family man and inexhaustible entrepreneur, was a flame that burned twice as bright for half as long. At just 66 years old, he peacefully took his last breath on Sunday, September 2, 2018 at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Milton was truly one of the irreplaceable ones. “Life is for the living and living is what I do best,” is one of the last things he said and a phrase couldn’t ring more true to his character. He embraced life with zest and zing that resonated with all he encountered. He had a magnetism about him that drew in people of every stripe. He was also a man that never knew a stranger. To know him was to love him and there are a lot of broken hearts on Earth right now. Born in New Orleans, LA, he was the son of the late Milton Joseph Chaison Sr. and Gloria Poteet Chaison. After graduating from Loyola University in New Orleans, Milton charged into the world with unyielding determination and drive. Using his aptitude for business and his creative spirit he started and ran multiple small businesses, including two donut shops and a seafood restaurant. He later invested his passion for industry into Offshore sales and development in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. His dedication and enthusiasm earned him respect and adoration from peers and associates throughout the field. Milton was a valued employee of several corporations during his life, including CONMACO, AMCLYDE and finally Gulf Copper, where he managed major oil field and oceanic projects for the past 15 years. Both his presence and leadership will be greatly missed. During his career, Milton’s projects lead him on some amazing and, on occasion, life-threatening journeys. He embraced both the challenges and the adventures with enthusiasm. He saw everything as both a learning experience as well as an opportunity for a great story. He traveled around the globe so many times he left it spinning. His impressive collection of passports contains stamps from some of the most remote places in the world. Outside of work, Milton had a wide range of hobbies and sources of amusement. He had a passion for gardening, music, dancing, culinary experimentation, anything Cajun, crossword puzzles, cars, woodworking, general tinkering and entertaining. A true Tiger, he bled purple and gold during LSU football season, giving more direction from his sofa than the entire coaching staff on the field. He also was a gifted storyteller, capable of both enthralling an audience and sending them into uncontrollable fits of laughter. He was also the funniest man that ever lived. No question. Milton earned countless honors and successes in his lifetime but, in his eyes, his greatest achievement was his family. He loved his wife, children and grandchildren with everything in him until the day he left them. He dedicated his life to providing for them and bettering their lives. His devotion was unwavering and his immeasurable affection toward them was something to be envied. His absence will weigh heavily on all of them. What a great loss for all that had the great honor of having Milton in their lives. He shook up this world with his arrival and has done so again with his passing. Milton was preceded in death by his beloved son, Adam Beau Chaison. Surviving him is his loving wife, Denise Dubourg Chaison; his daughters, Aimee Noel Chaison and Michelle Chaison Jones; and his grandchildren, Nicolette Noel Jones and Quinn Marie Jones. Other survivors include his siblings, Brenda Pierce, Myra Waites, Pam Cannon and Chad Chaison; many cousins, nieces and nephews and in-laws on both sides; and his beloved pug, Ellie Mae. In lieu of flowers the family prefers donations be made in Milton’s memory to the MDAnderson Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4486, Houston, TX 77210- 4486 or www.mdanderson.org/gifts. The family wishes to extend a special thanks to Gulf Copper and Manufacturing Corporation. A Memorial Service will be held at the Howard Avenue Chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 3:00 pm. Friends may visit from 1:00 pm until service time. A celebration of Milton’s life will follow services at 4:00 pm at The White House Hotel, 1230 Beach Blvd., Biloxi, MS 39530.