JACK CHANTEMERLE (MERLE), 75 Businessman co-owned photo stores

HERMITAGE, Pa. -- Private services will be Thursday for Jack Chantemerle (Merle), 75, of 61 Stone Ridge Blvd., who died Monday morning at home after a long illness.
Mr. Chantemerle was born Oct. 2, 1925, in Pittsburgh, a son of Lawrence B. and Leontine Pujol Chantemerle.
A graduate of the Baltimore Institute for Photography in 1947, he was a photographer in the Pittsburgh area until 1952. He came to Sharon and worked for the Rembrandt Studio, of which he became owner in 1955.
He bought the Mart Building in downtown Sharon in 1974, where he added a professional color lab and camera shop; in 1981, that building was destroyed by fire.
He also owned and operated Jack Merle's Club Oasis in Conneaut Lake, Pa., in the late 1950s.
In 1982, he formed Par Five Inc. with four golfing partners, and they owned and operated 12 One-Hour Photo stores in North and South Carolina. He later became a partner with Sharon Photo and Pitt Photo and placed more stores in Sharon and Pittsburgh. The chain was sold in the early 1990s.During World War II, he was a signalman with the Navy in Alaska and the Pacific Theater.
He was a member and master of Masonic Lodge 668 of Sharon, and a member of Blue Lodge, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite New Castle Consistory, Hermitage Rotary Club and Sharon Country Club.
Besides his wife, the former Phyllis C. Booher, whom he married April 10, 1958, he leaves a stepdaughter, Cheryl Vadala of Sharon; a stepson, William Booher of Polk, Pa.; two sisters, Alice Gary of Palm Beach, Fla., and Jeanette Stout of Atlanta; and three grandchildren.
Friends may call from 6 to 9 tonight at McGonigle Funeral Home, Sharon, where the Masons will have a service at 8:45 p.m.
Contributions may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.
3/7/01