Daniel Bosworth Obituary
Published by Legacy Remembers on Apr. 29, 2015.
Daniel J. Bosworth -- April 20, 1921 - April 26, 2015
Long time Concord, NH resident, antique watch and clock expert Daniel J. Bosworth made his final journey to join loved ones who have gone before him on April 26, 2015,
at the age of 94.
Dan was born April 20, 1921 in Westfield, MA to father Charles Bosworth and mother Elizabeth Bellew Bosworth as one of five children. He learned to love card games as a youngster, playing cards at the kitchen table many evenings with his father, and through his life loved a good card game at home while relaxing before dinner and on occasional weekends in his home with friends. Dan worked in the CCC in Westfield for a while when there was little work during the depression. He always took an interest in how things worked. In high school he bought his first three-speed bicycle with a Sturmey-Archer shifter on lay-away program at the hardware store in Westfield. Fascinated with how the shifter worked, he carefully disassembled it and reassembled it to perfect working order, a sign of what was to become a most fascinating and intricate passion and profession as watchmaker and clockmaker.
Dan enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to the Panama Canal Zone in spite of his desire to head overseas to become a hero. While in Panama he studied meteorology which he also had a passion for. His children recall his excitement during stormy weather and how he loved to "outsmart" the TV weatherman by looking at the national weather map and "correcting" the weather prediction. After the Army, thanks to the G. I. Bill, Dan entered a four-year watchmaking apprenticeship with watchmaker Morrison in Westfield, MA in 1946. Years later in the 1990s, Dan's business card read: "D. J. Bosworth, Watchmaker - Fine Watch & Clock Repair - Since 1946". Dan Bosworth played a key role in Concord, NH, as people came to know him as the go-to-guy for their timepieces. Initially in Bellows Falls, VT, where he met and married Norma (Buskey), who passed away in 1960, Dan opened D. J. Bosworth Jewelers in downtown Bellows Falls. Norma was an inspiration to him and helped him achieve his dream of his own shop where he could practice his skill. While in Bellows Falls where the railroad depot was not far from his store, Dan became the railroad watch expert, calibrating railroad pocket watches - the key to punctuality. Dan was Grand Knight in the Knights of Columbus for a short period of time.
After Norma passed, Dan and his two children left Bellows Falls and after about 12 years in the Boston area, where he worked for EG&G; his watch and clockmaking detail was beneficial in his electronics technician position there, he moved to Concord in 1975 and took in watches and clocks for repair in his home while doing other work. Dan always had a passion for timepieces and no matter what kind of work he did, he always repaired watches and clocks. He built a reputation of skill and honesty. He has been featured in the Concord Monitor, Yankee Magazine and NH Public Television's show Chronicles. Dan continued through life reading, researching and learning about timepieces, perfecting his skill and expanding his knowledge. Many of the major clocks in and around Concord, including watches and clocks of many citizens, were expertly repaired and if necessary restored by his capable hands. Steven Mitchell who became best friend and business partner, joined Dan to learn the business and moved Dan's business forward to become more successful; their combined knowledge, skill and integrity was sought after by many. They incorporated as Mitchell and Bosworth, Experts in Fine Timepieces. At age 89, Dan finally stopped working in the business after the passing of his long-time love and 19-year partner, Elsie O'Neill, who passed away in 2010 at 88. Elsie and first wife Norma were certainly the most influential women in his life.
In his later years, Dan was an avid gardener, growing vegetables and flowers, so many flowers he that would give away bouquets of cut flowers to friends and clients. An interest in tulips lead him to read up on them (something he did with whatever he was interested in) and at one point he had thousands of tulip bulbs planted in his yard and oh how glorious in the spring. He could bake a mean loaf of bread and would always bake multiple loaves so he could give some away. Dan was generous man - perhaps a product of growing up in poverty - always willing to give what he had to others and loved doing so. Dan loved reciting Shakespeare, and the epic poems he so loved about the Gold Rush, the Yukon, and life in America, all of which he would memorize.
Preceding him in death are his parents, Charles and Elizabeth Bosworth, sister Mary, brothers Edward and Charles, and brother Francis Bosworth whom he loved and respected very much, wife Norma, and long time love partner Elsie O'Neill.
Dan is survived by son Paul Bosworth and wife Cathy, granddaughter Sara Bosworth, grandsons Ross, Max, and Chase Bosworth, and daughter Mary Anne Goff and husband Don, grandson Cajetan Simeone, niece Kathy Bosworth DeGrandpre, long-time trusted friend and first employee at his store in Bellows Falls, Dianne Crean, and business partner and eternal true friend Steven Mitchell.
A special thank you to the third-floor staff at Pleasant View Genesis in Concord, NH.
His life was filled with grief and joy as with all of us. One of his finest periods was his fearless approach to his death. If he felt fearful, he did not show it, he seemed to embrace it. Dan Bosworth was an intelligent and complicated individual who will be missed by all who knew him. He believed in an afterlife and in his last years felt he would join Norma Bosworth and Elsie O'Neill in the hereafter. He once told his children that he wanted his gravestone to say:
Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not here. I did not die.
We love you, Dad, and we'll see you again.
The family will hold a "celebration of his life" to be held at a later date. No burial service will be held. In lieu of flowers, feel free to make a donation to the charity of your choice.
Arrangements under the direction of Bennett Funeral Home, Concord, NH.