John David Chessman

LANCASTER – On November 18, 2023, John David Chessman passed away at Weeks Medical Center, Lancaster, NH surrounded by family. He was 94.
John was born in Lancaster on November 2, 1929, and raised in Guildhall, VT on the Chessman farm up on what was then called Guildhall Hill on Fellows Road. His parents were Frank Chandler Chessman and Lillian Grace (Kimball) Chessman. John was the youngest of two sons born to Frank and Lillian. His brother, Frank Nelson Chessman, predeceased him.
John leaves his four children, Lyndall Demers and her husband Albert of Groveton, David Chessman and his wife Ramona of Lancaster, Joyce Ball of Lancaster, whose husband Jeffrey passed away in 2006, and John Chessman of Lancaster. Also surviving John are seven grandchildren, Gary, Tracy, Jenifer, David, Adam, Elizabeth, and Megan; nine great-grandchildren, Jaxon, Hallie, Brextin, Mary, Caleb, Caroline, Samuel, Lillian and Shantel; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his step-grandson Christopher Corliss in 2023.
John's wife Edith "Polly" Brown Chessman predeceased him 2012. John and Edith were married on July 13, 1955, in the church on the common in Guildhall, VT.
John was a lifetime member of the Northeast Fiddlers Association. He thoroughly enjoyed "real, old-time fiddle music" and bluegrass and old-time country music.
He attended school at the Chessman School and Central School in Guildhall.
At John's request, there will not be a service, but a Celebration of Life, with "lots of fiddles, lots of music, in a field" in the summer. The date will be Saturday, July 13, 2024. Details will follow closer to the day.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to: Northeast Fiddlers Association, c/o Maxine Young, Treasurer, 11 Westland Farm Road, South Royalton, VT 05068.