HOWARD WOOLAVER

WOOLAVER, Howard Of Chatham, died on January 2, 2013. He was predeceased by his loving wife of 49 years, Elsie Barrows Woolaver, who died on May 9, 2008; his brother Sherman; his sister June; and his old friend, Dan Carter, who died on December 22, 2010. Howard was born in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, to Stanley and Selma Woolaver on April 26, 1920. He immigrated to the United States with his family settling in Wilmington, Massachusetts, and graduated from high school in 1938. He and his old friend, Dan Carter, met in the fourth grade, beginning a friendship that lasted over 80 years. Dan had married his loving friend from Marblehead, Evelyn Wells. They had two daughters together, Candice (now Mrs. Preston Ford), and Wendy (now Mrs. Keith Taylor.) Howard became the godfather of both girls and remained so until his death. He loved them as his own daughters and they responded in kind with their generosity, kindness and expressions of friendship. He loved when the girls and their husbands came to visit at "Park Place." Howard regarded them as two of the finest couples he had ever known. Howard's mother had died in 1938. Shortly thereafter, his father remarried and he and his brother and sister left home. Howard boarded for quite some time with Dan's family, Robert and Dorothea Carter. They were a delightful couple and Howard often said they molded his character for the better. Howard loved his wife, Elsie, and had many friends on Windward Passage in North Chatham, where they lived for 27 years. After Elsie's death he moved to Park Place where he met many new people who became good friends to Howard. He was an excellent conversationalist, a dedicated gardener, an enthusiastic fisherman, an experienced canoe handler and quite a swimmer. He enjoyed his cat, Maxine the Second. Howard was a member and a former volunteer for the Chatham C.O.A., a member of the Chatham Retired Men's Association, and former Committee Member of the Chatham Railroad Museum. During World War II Howard served in the Air Force - The Army Airways Communication System - as a Morse Code Operator in various South American locations, including Ascension Island, and was discharged as a Technical Sergeant in 1945. Howard graduated from Boston University with a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. He was a very happy person and loved his life from childhood to old age. Howard is survived by two nieces, Marilyn Coffey of Pawtucket, Connecticut, and Heather Frances Brigmann of Petaluma, California. Howard also has two cousins, Harvey Fagerstrom of Redding, California and Phyllis Bigelow of Sharon, Massachusetts. Funeral Services are private. Burial will be at the Barrows Family plot in Wildwood Cemetery in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Donations in memory of Howard may be made to the Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod, The Chatham Conservation Foundation, or The Nature Conservancy.