Richard Chastain, an award-wining audio technician whose work was honored during Abilene Christian University's Centennial, died April 29 in Abilene at age 67 after a lengthy struggle with cancer.
Chastain was one of six ACU alumni in February 2006 to receive a Hashknife award - officially called the John and Ruth Stevens Historical Preservation Award - for heroic and pioneering preservation of university history. A member of the Centennial Collections Task Force, he led an effort to help gather and restore numerous at-risk audio and visual recordings for ACU, transferring them to DVD before they were lost to a less stable medium.
His Centennial work was evident in "The Mission," ACU's campaign film that won a silver medal from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in juried international competition in 2005, and a national Telly Award.
"Richard was passionate about his craft. He also was totally dedicated to the effort to preserve ACU’s history so it could be enjoyed by others during our Centennial," said Dr. Michelle Morris, ACU vice president for university relations. "He spent untold hours searching for and restoring audio, film and video recordings, some as early as the 1920s, and archiving them in digital form. Students, alumni and friends who download these recordings from ACU's iTunes site have Richard to thank for the opportunity."
For years, Chastain recorded theatre, music and opera performances at ACU and throughout the Abilene community, including the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tri-College Chorus and Abilene Collegiate Orchestra, some of which were broadcast locally on KACU-FM.
A native of Miami, Fla., Chastain received a bachelor's degree in 1962 from Lipscomb University and a master's degree from ACU in 1982. He also attended Florida State University, Harding Graduate School of Religion, and Texas Technical Institute. He served in the Air Force ROTC from 1958-60 while studying at FSU, where he also was a member of Phi Mu Alpha, a professional music fraternity.
Chastain served in ministry roles in New Concord, Ky. (1962-64); Danville, Va. (1964-67); Englewood, Fla. (1967-70), St. Petersburg, Fla. (1970-74); and as minister of Abilene's Central Church of Christ (1974-85). He taught Bible at Abilene Christian Schools for three years in the early 1980s.
He retired from full-time work at ACU in 2004 after 23 years as an audio-visual archive preservation specialist and director of the ACU Tape Service, but continued to work part-time on preparations for the university's Centennial.
Among survivors are three brothers, John and Michael of Nashville, Tenn., and Kenneth of Atlanta, Ga.; his wife, Rita, of Abilene; a daughter, Carola (Chastain) Martin of Sweetwater, Texas; and a son, John, of Abilene; and eight grandchildren. Visitation will be held May 1 from 6-8 p.m. at Elmwood Funeral Home in Abilene. Services are scheduled for May 2 at 2 p.m. at Elmwood Funeral Home.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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