Chester "Pud" O. Draper

Pud Draper, 81, of Jasper, Texas passed away June 7, 2023. He was born in Beaumont, Texas on August 7, 1941 to Chester, Sr. and Mary Draper. He grew up in Vidor, Texas and graduated from Vidor High School in 1959 where he was the John Philips Sousa award winner as drummer and received an invitation to an exclusive try-out with the Chicago White Sox. Pud married his high school sweetheart, Corkey Hales, in 1962 and they raised up two near perfect children. Pud served in church leadership, coached baseball teams, and fixed everyone’s televion sets. Pud worked for Gulf States Utilities Company/Entergy beginning in 1962 and retired in 1996 after 34 years of service. He was a dedicated, hard-working, selfless leader. The family remembers a particular instance when he had been working countless hours during an outage. He had fallen asleep on the couch and when a noise in the house woke him, he raised up and asked, “Is number four on the line?” Gulf States was a second family for him and many of his best and longest friendships were men with whom he had worked. Pud is preceded in death by his parents, Chester Oren Draper, Sr. and Mary Elizabeth Cash Draper.He was loved and nurtured by his parents and he honored and served them from about age 14 for the remainder of their lives. As a teenager, he worked evenings after school to keep the family business going while his father recovered from significant illness. In their older ages, he helped them maintain full and happy lives caring for them in their home and assisting them in travel with their RV. Pud is also preceded in death by his wife Evelyn Draper. Though short, this chapter of his life was filled with romance and love. It was memorialized by the unbuttoning of his top shirt button and the addition of a gold chain necklace. She adored him, and he her. His final resting place will be beside her. Pud is survived by his wife Barbara Jordan Draper. Barbara was the missing piece that he needed to pursue adventure. He was an avid outdoorsman and always dreamed of adventure, but his dreams always took the backseat to the needs of the ones he loved. Barbara is a doer. She insisted that he move his own needs and desires to the forefront allowing him to experience so many wonderful things. Their partnership is memorialized by the beautiful home they built together in the mountains of Colorado. There are so many lessons that have been learned from the life of Pud Draper, but none more important than his service and ability to put the needs and wants of others before his own. If we all could do that, the world would be a kinder, gentler place to be. Pud is survived by an unbelievable number of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Siblings: Albert and Linda Draper and Mary and Tommy Williams. Children: Deidre and Jack Reynolds, Guy and Jennifer Draper, Kevin and Cindy Jordan, Scott and Callie Jordan, Brad Jordan and Tiffany Jordan, Grandchildren: Roman and Heather Franklin, Derian and Matt Conn, Jed, Olive-Anne, and Lottie Draper, Tim, Taylor, and Tyler Reynolds, AJ and Matthew Jordan, Tanner Jordan, Great Grandchildren: Reese, Maddi, and Noah Conn, and Palmer Franklin.