Name: Lerol Champion Date: February 6th, 1928 - January 27th, 2010 Obituary: Lerol Champion, 81, of Palm Dessert, California died January 27, 2010. Born February 6, 1928 in Canton, GA to the late Richard and Ella Newberry Champion, he had resided in the Los Angeles area from 1949 until 1979 as an employee of Burroughs Corp. He then relocated to San Jose to work as senior materials manager for Solectron Corp. until his retirement in 2002. Champ received numerous awards in the course of his employment with Solectron and was honored nationally by President George H.W. Bush as recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1987 and 1991. Champ served in the US Navy stationed as electricians mate 3rd class aboard the USS Sperry , USS Sea Fox and USS Coucal. He was awarded the WWII Victory, American Theatre and Asiatic Pacific Medals. Champ attended school in Jasper and Cass Georgia and was a member of Fairview Baptist Church in Atco, GA. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his brother, Richard Champion and four sisters, Pearl Cardwell, Lila Belle Teague, Grace Norris and Louise Lowery. Survivors are his brothers, Leon Champion and Paul Champion both of Chattanooga and his west coast friends and long time companions, Barbara Smith and Ron Leach. A private family service will be later at Long Swamp Baptist Church, Marble Hill, Georgia. This announcement is courtesy of Heritage Funeral Home, Chattanooga.