NEW GLOUCESTER – The New Gloucester native who died after possibly contracting fungal pneumonia and H1N1 flu while at basic training for the Maine Army National Guard is being remembered this week as a personable and focused young man.

Pfc. Jordan Chase, 19, came down with flu-like symptoms six weeks into his basic training course at Fort Jackson, S.C. An Army spokeswoman said the official cause of death won’t be known until a toxicology report is finalized, which is expected to take 45 days. She said, however, that preliminary reports by doctors indicate Chase died of complications related to pneumonia.

According to his father, Tom Chase, a native of New Gloucester, Jordan Chase spent most of his life in New Gloucester. He attended elementary schools in New Gloucester and attended Gray-New Gloucester Middle School. He then spent his freshman and sophomore years at Gray-New Gloucester High School, but moved for a year to Lewiston where he attended Lewiston High School. He returned to Gray-New Gloucester High School in 11th and 12th grade and graduated as a member of the class of 2010.

His father said Chase contacted the H1N1 flu virus while in basic training and received medical care at three Army hospitals. He showed signs of improvement upon entry to the hospital but doctors told the father that a combination of pneumonia, H1N1 (swine flu) and possibly fungal pneumonia overwhelmed the young man’s body.

“The doctors aren’t really sure, but their best bet at this point was that it was fungal pneumonia, since that was the only test they hadn’t done yet. They know it was something else, other than the H1N1 and pneumonia. I guess there was too much going on in his system,” Tom Chase said.

The Chase family is grieving this week at their unexpected loss. Chase was in perfect health upon leaving for Fort Jackson, and the last thing on anyone’s mind was that the young and vibrant man wouldn’t come back.

“He’s always been very healthy. He’s 6 feet 2 inches, and was long and lanky when he went down there. And he said he had gained 15-20 pounds of muscle while being down there,” his father said.

The family had received two brief letters from the new recruit in the six weeks he was gone.

“He basically said he was having fun, not having any difficulties, and that it wasn’t as difficult as he had expected,” Tom Chase said.

Not only physically fit, Jordan Chase was mentally and emotionally strong, as well, excelling in school and wanting to be an engineer, his father said.

“He was a good kid, low-key and he did what he needed to do,” said Paul Penna, principal of Gray-New Gloucester High School. “Jordan was always personable, friendly. He was just a nice kid.”

Chase had set his sights on becoming an engineer and possibly serving in the Army as a career, his father said. He was keeping his options open, but was thinking about transitioning to the regular Army after six months in the National Guard.

“He was extremely intelligent. He wasn’t sure where he was going to end up, being fresh out of high school, but he knew the Guard was a good start. He knew this was exactly what he needed,” Tom Chase said.

His brief time in the Maine Guard didn’t go unnoticed by his superiors. Lt. Col. Michael Backus, head of recruiting and retention, said Chase had shown interest in the military early on by serving in 2008 in the ROTC program at Lewiston High School. He enlisted Oct. 12 for the part-time Guard and was working full time at Paradigm Window Solutions in Portland.

“He was very motivated, very energetic about his military training,” Backus said. “My sincere condolences to Jordan’s family and friends. The loss of someone so young and vibrant and so full of life like Jordan cannot be expressed in words. He will be deeply missed.”

He was also a good worker. For the last two summers, Chase worked at Stillbrook Acres horse farm off Mayall Road in Gray, which operates horse-drawn carriage rides in the Old Port during the summer. Owner Heather Phinney, who has her hair done by Chase’s stepmother, Brenda Chase, had known the young man much of his life and asked him to work for her two summers ago.

“He was a very good kid,” Phinney said. “He helped us to get hay in, and in Portland his job was basically to babysit the horses, to make sure they kept calm.”

Phinney remembered one experience in which one of the horses caught its teeth on a rein and began to panic. Chase quickly jumped out of the carriage, which was carrying passengers, surmised the situation and helped unravel the horse from the straps.

“He was very tall, and, to me, he saved the day. It wasn’t a good situation but he got that horse to calm down,” Phinney said.

Starting in August, he also worked at Paradigm working on a team manufacturing custom and replacement windows. Workers there were shocked by the news of Chase’s death and are remembering him as hard working and helpful.

“He was very well liked here. He was a good worker and a quick learner,” said Jennifer Morin, director of human resources. “He worked on what we call the hung line, and folks I’ve talked to on that line said he was the nicest young man they had met, that he was always willing to give a helping hand, that he would go above and beyond.”

Morin also said Chase was remembered for never saying a bad word about anyone and that he was excited about going in the Army.

While at basic training, Chase managed to qualify as a sharpshooter and even passed his physical fitness test “with flying colors,” his father said, all while battling the initial stages of pneumonia.

“That’s how tough he was,” he said. “He wanted to finish that test first because it was important to him, and then he went to sick call. It was something he wanted to do, and when he set his mind on something, he followed through. Jordan could be a determined young man. Myself, the only thing I can say is that a parent isn’t supposed to bury a child. It should be the other way around.”

Chase’s body has yet to return to Maine. Funeral arrangements will be made at that time, Tom Chase said.

The loss of his son has been “difficult, but we’re getting a lot of support from everyone, and if I could say just one thing it’d be to parents: Beware because you never know when something’s going to change,” Tom Chase said. “Enjoy it while you can.”

Jordan Chase of New Gloucester, seen here in his senior portrait for the Gray-New Gloucester High School class of 2010 yearbook, was a tough kid mentally, physically and emotionally, his father said, and was planning to pursue an engineering degree.