Obituary of Chandler Baldwin

Chandler D. (Chan) Baldwin, age 90, of Plymouth Meeting, died Sunday, September 19, at Artman Lutheran Home in Ambler. He was a retired group insurance sales executive with Phoenix Mutual Insurance Company. As regional group sales supervisor, he was responsible for group insurance sales in the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington regions. Mr. Baldwin was born and grew up in Mt.Vernon, New York, the son of Harry and Elsie (Denike) Baldwin. As a boy, he attended games at Yankee Stadium, and would later recount the great accomplishments of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. In 1942, he graduated with a degree in economics from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, where he met his future wife, Patricia (Bradbury) Baldwin, to whom he was married for 67 years until her death in 2009. After graduation from college, Mr. Baldwin enlisted in the Army, and graduated from Officer Candidate School as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. He was stationed in the Phillipines, and after the end of World War II, was part of the Allied military force which occupied Japan. After World War II, Mr.Baldwin entered the group insurance business, initially in New York City. In the late 1940s, he relocated his family to the Philadelphia area. In 1964, he joined Phoenix Mutual, and successfully ran the group insurance sales effort until his retirement in 1984. Following retirement, he and his wife traveled across many parts of the western United States, and ultimately bought a second home in Green Valley, Arizona, where they spent many winters. In addition to their travels across the United States, they enjoyed visits to Western Europe and Greece. Mr Baldwin married his wife, Pat, on Christmas eve, 1942, just prior to his departure for military service. They raised four children and lived in the same house from 1951 to the present. He enjoyed playing bridge, and was a keen student of politics, history, and geography. He was an avid fan of the Phillies and the Eagles, and attended the NFL World Championship Game at Franklin Field in 1960, in which the Eagles defeated the Packers. He enjoyed attending spring training baseball games in Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Baldwin was a member of the Messiah United Methodist Church, in Lafayette Hill, and a former member of the Green Valley Community Church in Green Valley, Arizona. He is survived by his two daughters: Mary Ellen Urquhart (David) of Pottstown, and Tracey E. Newhall (Dan) of Blue Bell; and his son, John C. Baldwin (Marika) of Towson, MD; 12 grandchildren, and several great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife of 67 years, Patricia Baldwin, and by his daughter, Joan M. Slingsby. The funeral service will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, September 25, at Messiah United Methodist Church, 527 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill. Memorial contributions may be made to Artman Lutheran Home in Ambler or to the American Cancer Society.