Bob Chandler - Personal Life

Personal Life

Chandler was born in Long Beach, California and was raised in Whittier, California and graduated from Whittier High School in 1967. Chandler was considered one of the best all-around high school athletes to play in Southern California. At Whittier High in the late 1960s, he was All-CIF in football and basketball and was one of the country's top high school decathletes, high-jumping 6 feet 7 inches, pole-vaulted more than 13 feet, while putting the 12-pound shot 57 feet. Chandler's father Gene Chandler was the mayor of Whittier, California in 1987-1988. Chandler eventually married his college sweetheart Marilyn and had three children, Marisa, Justin and Emma. Chandler earned a law degree from Western State University College of Law. In 1994, Chandler, though a nonsmoker, began experiencing a nagging cough. A rare strain of lung cancer was discovered in his lungs in September 1994. He continued to work on Raider broadcasts while undergoing chemotherapy treatment at the USC Norris Center, but died on Friday, January 27, 1995, at the age of 45, after a four-month battle with cancer.