I got along with him, though some others in our department didn't. He was, at least the few years I knew him, the stereotypically grouchy, irascible old tech guy type, resistant to change, but still a pool of valuable knowledge. I found him prickly yet charming, if that makes any sense at all. I got along well with him.
At the end of his tenure before retiring, he was to the point of resisting change so much, he was preventing progress, though he probably thought it was once again "change for change's sake" instead of real progress. He also unintentionally drove off a network dept. colleague by simply never giving him anything to do. Chip was a very hands-on, "I'll do it myself!" kinda guy.
I know I sound like I'm speaking ill of the dead, but I'm really not. I found his difficulties very human, and he did have his reasons, at least to himself. I'm told by older employees that he used to have borderline-violent "tantrums" when things went wrong, which of course frightened people. I never saw one, so he either mellowed or got a grip. Nowadays he would be summarily fired for anything like that.
In his personal life he was, at an age most people retire, raising one of his grandchildren. One of Chip's daughters had some personal problems, had a daughter, then pretty much gave her up to Chip as she couldn't raise her. Chip and his wife eventually legally adopted their granddaughter. I believe she's in middle school now.
Again, I know this memorial sounds quite unflattering, but I do not intend any offense. I did find him to be a nice guy with a certain dry humor, and a good colleague; I think he fell into the usual impatience and frustrations that any very intelligent person feels when having to deal with the less intelligent, or less intelligently-designed situations. I think the world has lost something because he's gone, and I'm very sad about it.