Stanton Wesley Putnam

Of Boston, a 12th generation member of the Putnam family who were among the earliest settlers of Sutton, Massachusetts, died with dignity on Wednesday, August 27, 2008. Born the first child of the late Stanton Darling Putnam and Doris N. Keith Putnam of Douglas, Massachusetts, he celebrated his 80th birthday on Tuesday, August 26th. Mr. Putnam grew up in 0ld Douglas in the former parsonage of the Douglas Congregational Church where he was baptized and confirmed and was an active member for many years. He attended Douglas Public schools and graduated from Douglas High School, Class of 1946. That summer he enlisted in the United States Army and after training in Virginia, he was sent to join the American forces in the occupation of Japan. He served in the Headquarters Staff of the First Army in Yokohama. Returning to the United States, Mr. Putnam took a postgraduate year at the Cascadilla School in Ithaca, New York. He was employed in the offices of the Whitin Machine Works and later became a manual specialist and had other administrative roles with the Raytheon Company in Wayland, Massachusetts and Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He held a high security clearance related to Raytheon's many U.S. Department of Defense contracts. Becoming an active opponent of the Vietnam War, Mr. Putnam joined the Lauriat Bookstore and assisted in the opening of a new store on Green Street, Northampton, Massachusetts. At this time, he and the Rev. David Shepherd King, a 10th generation member of the Sutton, Massachusetts King family, established a home in Amherst, Massachusetts, beginning a commitment of more than forty years culminating in their marriage in March of 2007. Employed at the Southwest Student Residential Complex at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mr. Putnam became deeply involved with students protesting the war, including a Baptist chaplain who died of self-immolation. He also grew concerned by the number of students becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs. Moving to Springfield, Massachusetts, Mr. Putnam and the Rev. Mr. King lived in an African-American community near Winchester Square. This concern for the growing epidemic in drug and alcohol use led him to enter training as a counselor in the Connecticut Department of Mental Health. He served as counselor in a residential facility in Meriden, Connecticut and later became the Executive Director of the Wethersfield Avenue Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Receiving a license to sell real estate in Massachusetts, he moved to his beloved vacation home in North Truro, and joined his sister and brother-in-law, Donna and Edward Macamber in their offices. Purchasing a 10 room Victorian town house on Montgomery Street in Boston in 1981, Mr. Putnam volunteered for Dukakis reelection campaign and later joined the staff of the Commonwealth's Department of Revenue from which he retired. He became enamored of the Episcopal Church and was confirmed in that Church in 1984 - a high point in his religious life. The Holy Spirit was a constant presence in his adult life and Angels were his friendly companions. Daily prayer was his practice; regular Eucharist his goal. Mr. Putnam is survived by a loving family. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his younger brother, Dexter Putnam of Warren, Massachusetts. His family includes his sister Donna Macomber and her husband, Edward Macomber, of Orleans, Massachusetts and their two sons, Putnam and his wife Cindy of Eastham, Massachusetts and Douglas and his fiancee Nancy Malcolm of Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts: his sister-in-law, Ann Putnam and her children, Keith and his wife Terry, all of Southbridge, Massachusetts and her daughter Heather and her husband William Sandgren of Warren, Massachusetts. He is also survived by five grand nieces, two grand nephews and one great grand nephew. In addition to the Rev, Mr. King of Boston, he is also survived by his sisterinlaw, M. Marthena. King, and her children: E. Perry King, Cynthia Vanderlinden and her husband, Robert, Terry Alan King and his wife Cynthia, all of Sutton. Completing the family are four grand nieces, three grand nephews, and one great grand niece and nephew. Family and friends are invited to services of celebration and thanksgiving for the life of Stanton Wesley Putnam, as follows: Saturday, September 6 at 2:00 pm at Trinity Church, Episcopal, Copley Square, Boston; and Sunday, September 7 at 2:00 pm at the First Congregational Church Sutton, Burial will be at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Mr. Putnam may be made in support of the pulmonary research of Dr. Elliot Israel. Please make checks payable to Brigham and Women's Hospital and send to: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Development Office, 116 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116. www.bumafuneralhome.com