WILMINGTON — Robert Stephen Chauncey III, known to his friends and family as Stevie, Stephen, or Chauncey; passed away on Sunday, May 29, 2022 from injuries sustained in a tragic boating accident.
Stephen was born on September 21, 1984 to Steve Chauncey and Lisa Chance in Wilmington, NC. He was preceded in death by his maternal and paternal grandparents. He is survived by his beautiful 3 year old daughter Carson, his mom Lisa, his dad Steve and bonus mom Lynna, his brothers Gary Hall (Megan), Scott Hall (Chloe), his sisters Samantha Darling, Sara Darling, Lauren Byrd (Justin), his PaPa Earnie (Shirley), his special friend Tessa Klein, and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. In addition to his large family that he loved with all his heart, he leaves behind a large number of friends who meant the world to him.
Stephen was an incredible man that accomplished a lot in his short 37 years of life. He served the US Army as a Warrant Officer III for 16 years where he was a pilot, first flying OH-58 Kiowa helicopters and later flying C-12 airplanes. He did two tours in Afghanistan and during his deployment in 2010 he was awarded the Combat Action Badge and the Air Medal. In addition to his combat deployments he had operation deployments to Africa and South America. In 2020 he medically retired from the Army and became a Flight Instructor at FlightSafety International. He served our country with so much pride and flying brought him so much joy, and so did being on the water, whether that was surfing or out on his boat. While he had a lot of love and passions in his life, there was absolutely nothing he loved more than his daughter Carson, she was truly the light of his life. Stephen’s personality was one everyone was drawn to, he lived his life to the fullest, always wanting to have fun with the people he loved, to make them laugh and to be the life of the party. He was the best father, son, brother and friend and will be missed immensely by so many people.
Stephen’s family will accept friends and family on Monday, June 6th from 5pm-7pm at Andrews Mortuary, 1617 Market St. Wilmington, NC. There will be a celebration of life at the beach on a later date. Stephen will ultimately be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project at supportwwp.org/wwp or mailed to Donor Care Center, PO Box 758541, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8541. Donations can also be made at a later date to a trust that is being setup for Carson.
