Richard D. Chumney, 79, of Virginia Beach, Va., died April 14 at a local hospital.
A former Hopewell Valley resident, he was an elder at Bayside Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach, Va., and a veteran of World War II with the U.S. Army 68th Signal Battalion.
Mr. Chumney was the former director of the Division of Rural Resources with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. He had an active career in support of agriculture since he graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in agronomy in 1948.
He earned a master’s degree in agriculture from Cornell University in 1949. Career highlights include being an administrative assistant to the Virginia commissioner of agriculture in 1956; the assistant by 1958; executive assistant to the governor of Virginia in 1962, and commissioner of agriculture for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 1962 to 1965. For seven years before taking his last position in 1973, he was executive assistant to the New Jersey secretary of agriculture.
Predeceased by his wife Laura C. Chumney and his parents, Willie Tom Chumney and Ardela Davis Chumney, Mr. Chumney is survived by a daughter, Karlee C. Thomson and her husband Kevin D. Thomson of Virginia Beach, Va.; two sons, Kendall J. Chumney of Virginia Beach, Va., and R. Kevin Chumney and his wife Nancy A. Chumney of Moorestown; a brother, W. Donald Chumney and his wife Becky Chumney of Tampa, Fla.; and four grandchildren, Kelly Thomson, Kurt Thomson, Rachel Chumney and Taylor Chumney.
The funeral service was held Monday at Bayside Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach, Va.
Interment will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Lakeview Cemetery, Blackstone, Va.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Bayside Presbyterian Church, 1400 Ewell Road, Virginia Beach, Va., 23455.
