Success!

Finally! I had started over on another board to start fresh and try some new methods.

What finally ended up working was flooding all the connections with brand new solder, then using a desoldering braid, soak up everything. In theory, some flux should help as well but Radio Shack closes in 30 minutes. So, this is an experiment for another day. After all, I do have 9 more boards to practice on.

Then when I could see gaps between all the pins and the board, I moved the pins away from the edges, wiggled some a bit to make sure they were free from the solder. Still there was some connections, but once I had wedged a screwdriver (didn't have any softer wedges... Popsicle stick is still drying) and pulled up the chip. Package seems to be intact. Now I just need to develop some tests to check if it wasn't destroyed by the heat and prying.