Chidlaw passed away in September at the age of 94

ATASCADERO —  Edward “Ed” Chidlaw left a huge legacy behind when he passed at the end of September this year. From forming deep friendships in the community to hosting “Chidlaw Stadium,” which overlooked the Atascadero High School (AHS) football field, and being a Superior Court judge in San Luis Obispo, he left an impact everywhere he went.

“He was a good man. You know I never ever in my life heard anybody really say anything bad about my father. He was just one of those people who was solid and was a nice guy. A nice man,” said Ed’s son, Chris Chidlaw. “I loved him, and he really laid a really good foundation for his family and his kids. What to do right, what to do wrong. It was very rare if anybody had anything bad to say about my father, which I appreciated as I grew older. He was a good dad.”

During his time living in Atascadero, Ed and his family lived in a house that overlooked the AHS football field, and they called it “Chidlaw Stadium,” while hosting friends and family on Friday nights during football season, starting in the early ’70s. 

“He’d invited people, friends, and family, to his house to watch the games,” said Ed’s friend, Rolfe Nelson. “He had chairs out on the lawn area, and that’s one of the reasons he took very good care of his house and his yard because hehad a lot of guests come over and enjoy the games and other social events.”

Nelson added that you could hear the noise from the game and see the scoreboard from Chidlaw Stadium.

“It was a pretty special thing. Good thing for our kids, our cheerleaders,” added Donn Clickard. “Everybody looked forward to the waves from Chidlaw Stadium when it was announced by the announcer guy.”

The district’s maintenance crew used to trim the trees to keep Chidlaw Stadium’s view intact. Nelson also said that he believed that the Chidlaws would write checks and send them to AHS to support football.

“I was there one night, and that was very cool. That was very dad to do that. Have friends over and turn that into a little watch party. Very cool, you know, he loved watching sports, so that worked out perfect,” stated Chris.

Ed’s love of sports included taking Chris to Giants baseball games and 49ers football games.

“I remember walking into Candlestick Park with him many times, and just being in the ballpark with him was just a great occasion,” added Chris.

Ed and Clickard also bonded over sports and created teams for the Lions All-Star Football Game, which pitted San Luis Obispo County and Santa Cruz County against each other in healthy competition. The teams were made up of high school seniors from both counties.

“That whole time that we did that All-Star Football game, it was Ed Chidlaw and Bob Wilkins and me, and we just, we kind of spearheaded that thing with a lot of help,” added Clickard.

Chidlaw and Wilkins were both members of the Lions Club, and Clickard stated that they had a super successful run with the games for a good period of time. The three men would travel around and check out the facilities and organize everything for the games together. According to Clickard, Chidlaw always wanted what was best for kids and was a stickler for that during that time. 

“We had great crowds every time we did the game,” Clickard said. “Our goal for the three of us and for the clubs involved was to make a quality experience for the kids.”

Aside from his love of sports and the community, Ed was also well-known in the courts of San Luis Obispo as a Supreme Court Judge.

“If you had to go to court, obviously, he’d be the one that you’d want to sit in front of you as far as the court proceedings,” Nelson said. “He was a really good guy, fair, nice, you know. A big, loveable guy and everyone liked Ed Chidlaw. They liked him, and they liked Emily (Ed’s wife), and they liked how he fit into the community.” 

Ed’s caretaker for the last nine years of his life, Noemi Ramirez, added that he had a very humorous side to him and that that spilled into his life as a judge as well and that many jokes were played at court. 

“When I got to know him, it was just funny that he was in that frame of mind,” she added. “You’d think a judge is really serious the whole time, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t at all. You know, he’d snap back with some funny comebacks, and it was a joy to see that. To know that of him.”

Chris added that he would call his dad when he would get a ticket or something and would go through the effort to explain the whole scenario. In the end, Ed would usually tell him to go ahead and pay for the ticket.

“He was very much by the book, and he was very common sense,” Chris said. “My dad was one of those guys where everything was, he was very good at, he could see B.S. He was a very good B.S. detector. He had a job where he had a lot of fun.” 

Ed also reconnected with his daughter, Cindy Chidlaw Diaz, for the last nine years of his life and was overjoyed to get to know not only his granddaughter, Ashley, but also his two great-grandkids, Catalina and Michael.

“They brought him more joy the last, you know, eight and a half years than you can believe. He just, that was his pride and joy, those two great-grandkids,” said Cindy. “He would make sure he either came over here at Christmas or Thanksgiving or we went over there. My daughter and the two great-grandkids just loved Grandpa. It was just everything in the world to meet him, and Dad was just always overjoyed to see the kids.”

Ed also helped build and start Jackass Rock Camp with his father in Medura County, where Cindy still lives, and even though portions of the camp burned in the Creek Fire, the county, with Cindy’s help, are rebuilding the camp and keeping that part of the Chidlaw legacy alive.

“It’s a really cool camp, and I just want to keep the Chidlaw name going with that camp because my grandpa built it, and my dad, well, he was always there,” added Cindy.

On top of everything else he did, Ed was also actively involved with the Estrella Warbird Museum and was also an active part of the community even near the end of his life.

“It seemed to me that he just had a connection with so many people in the community. That he was very welcomed here and that he fit in right away,” concluded Nelson.

Featured Image: Ed Chidlaw (back center) is shown at home with his son Chris (back left), daughter Cindy (back right), great-grandson Michael (front left), granddaughter Ashley (front center), and great-granddaughter Catalina (front right). Contributed Photo