Rev. Chandler Holmes

CHESHIRE -- Rev. Chandler Maling "Hap" Holmes, 84, formerly of Cheshire, died Sunday at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. He had resided at Mount Greylock Extended Care Facility in Pittsfield for two years. He was ordained in 1945 at Cheshire Baptist Church and was pastor from 1945 to 1970. He also had been pastor of Berkshire Union Chapel for part of that time.

Born in Biddeford, Maine, on April 18, 1920, son of the Rev. Lester Holmes and Susan Maling Holmes, he attended schools in New Hampshire, Maine and in Worcester, where he graduated from North High School in 1939. He also graduated from Eastern Baptist College in Philadelphia in 1944. He had resided in North Waterboro, Maine, then for a year on Robinson Road in Hinsdale before entering the nursing home.

Mr. Holmes' second pastorate was at North Waterboro Community Church, where he served from 1970 until retiring in 1997. During the 1970s and ‘80s, he was employed as a funeral assistant at Heald Funeral Home in Springvale, Maine. While in Cheshire, he worked at the former Cheshire Garage.

A Mason, he was deputy grand master from 1956 to 1957 and received his 50-year medal from the Grand Lodge. He was a longtime volunteer firefighter and had an avid interest in model trains. He played the trumpet and sang at many events. He was a co-founder of the Men's Interfaith Breakfast in Cheshire.

His wife, the former Marian Ruth Marshall, whom he married Aug. 25, 1943, in Waterboro, Maine, died Feb. 17, 2004.

He leaves three daughters, Susan H. Brady of Wilbraham, Leslie R. LaPlante of Hinsdale and Carolyn H. Gawron of Scarborough, Maine; four sisters, Phyllis Mugridge of York, Maine, Elizabeth Covell of Eastham, Marjorie Bock of West Newfield, Maine, and Ruth Hammond of Lyman, Maine, five grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- Services for the Rev. Chandler M. "Hap" Holmes, who died Jan. 30, 2005, will be conducted Thursday at 3 at First Baptist Church of Cheshire by the Rev. Linda Shaw, pastor, and the Rev. William D. Furey, pastor of the Berkshire Union Chapel. Calling hours will be Thursday from 1 to 3 at the church. A Masonic service will be held at 2:45. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Cheshire Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Saco, Maine, or North Waterboro Community Baptist Church, all in care of DERY-CHESHIRE FUNERAL HOME, 121 North State Road, Cheshire, which is handling arrangements. Calling hours at North Waterboro Community Baptist Church in North Waterboro, Maine, will be Saturday from noon to 2 with a service to begin at 2. Burial will be in the spring in Elder Gray Cemetery in North Waterboro. Rev. Holmes is lovingly survived by his five grandchildren, Timothy and Christopher Brady, Jamie LaPlante, Jodi LaPlante-Santos and Nathan Gawron, 10 great-grandchildren, and 23 nieces and nephews. He also leaves his sons-in-law, R. Bruce Brady, Robert LaPlante and Stanley Gawron. He was predeceased by a brother, Philip Holmes, and by a sister, Shirley Clarke.