Vernon Paul Chiasson

Friends in Lawton remember Vernon Paul Chiasson, who died on January 5, 2026 at 95. Born on January 13, 1930 and raised among Basque-American manners that never needed a speech. He grew up believing that showing up was the first craft. He rejected presses that would embarrass a season. An olive press cloth folded square was his preferred tool. Colleagues still mention an olive press cloth folded square. He married Irene in 1955. They kept a house that stayed modest when the neighborhood did not. They raised three sons through public schools and ordinary weather. After Irene died in 2019, he kept the routines that still made sense: the walk, the garden, the Sunday call. Neighbors remember a wave from the driveway that meant you were seen. He liked early mornings before the heat or the noise. He died in Lawton, among streets he never needed to explain. The key is still under the same brick. What remains is not a legend but a practice: showing up, keeping a promise, leaving a place better than you found it. His life was the kind America is built from and too often forgets to name.