Gerald D. Chadderdon was born on October 9, 1922 in Friendship, New York but grew up in Olean, NY. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force as a cadet in 1942 and did basic training at Allegheny College, Meadville, PA. He graduated the summer of 1944 from the Army Air Forces Pilot School in Craig Field, Selma, Alabama as part of the Class 44-F. It was then that he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and received his "Silver Wings." He was a First Pilot in heavy bombers during the final stages of World War II, and was honorably discharged in 1945 after 32 months service.

He went on to graduate from St. Bonaventure University with a B.S. in Chemistry and Math in June 1949, and an M.S. in Chemistry in June 1952. He spent seven years as a chemist at Bell Aircraft Corporation in Buffalo, NY and over twenty-five years as an engineer at Lockheed Martin in Orlando, FL. He authored and co-authored technical articles which were published in national technical journals, and he held a patent on a unique plastic molding compound. His hobbies included fishing and photography.

He died on December 23, 2016 at The Marley House in Prescott, Arizona.