The Purdue Veterinary Medicine community is deeply saddened by the passing of a member of the DVM Class of 1978, Dr. Richard Peter Chaille, of Anderson, Indiana, who died August 1, 2024. He was 70.
An Anderson native, Dr. Chaille enrolled at Purdue University following graduation from Anderson High School. After earning his Purdue DVM degree in 1978, Dr. Chaille went into private practice. In 1985 he opened Broadway Veterinary Clinic in Anderson and remained in practice there until he sold the clinic in 2010. Dr. Chaille didn’t stay retired for long, however. He opened Columbus Veterinary Services and dog park in 2018 in Columbus, Indiana, and continued to work at the thriving veterinary practice until Parkinson’s disease necessitated that he stop.
Dr. Chaille also was dedicated to his wife and five children, and enjoyed Chaille family vacations to Kentucky Lake, Virgin Gorda, the Grand Canyon, as well as a Chevy Suburban tour of nine national parks. Other favorite activities included Quetico canoeing, touring France and Germany, and sailing the Virgin Islands. In 1988 the Chaille family joined with another family to purchase a cottage on Grandview Lake, and the Chaille’s spent many weekends and summers on the water making memories before permanently moving there in 2018. Dr. Chaille also was an avid slalom skier and co-founder of the Sunrise Ski Club.
In addition, Dr. Chaille was a dedicated kayaker, getting out on the water most mornings before the sun came up to enjoy the magnificent Grandview sunrises, and he would often take a photo of the sunrise and send it out to his friends as a reminder to live every day to the fullest. He also loved to tend his garden and enjoyed landscaping projects and hydrodynamic engineering.
Dr. Chaille will be remembered as someone who always had to be on the move or leading an activity. Most of all, he will be remembered as someone who would always go out of his way to be kind and generous to everyone he met.
Visitation will be held at 9:00 a.m. August 17 at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Nashville, Indiana, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. A celebration of life gathering will take place in the lower level of the church immediately following the mass.
In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to: St. Agnes Catholic Church, 1008 McLary Road, Nashville, IN 47448 or the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine by check payable to Purdue Foundation, Gift Processing, PO Box 772401, Detroit, MI 48277-2401. Note on the check that the gift is in memory of Dr. Richard Chaille.
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