Ed was the type of guy that everyone liked, probably because he liked most people he met. Whether you needed to move a whole household of furniture or fix a flat, he’d offer in a heartbeat. Ed was born in Claremont, N.H. on Sept. 27, 1937, and grew up in Newport on Unity Road. After he graduated from Towle High School, Class of ’55, he went on to UNH to become a Mechanical Engineer and ROTC graduate in 1959.
His parents, deceased, were Mildred Emerson and Wilfred Chartrand. His siblings, also deceased, were Wilfred Chartrand, Jr. and his wife, Joanne, of Minn., who left six nieces and nephews; and, also deceased, his sister, Beverly Austin, and her husband Maurice “Tink” Austin. Their son Allan Austin pre-deceased his parents, and they left two children, Rebecca Austin, and Sean Austin.
He met the love of his life, Janie Worthen from Newbury, N.H. at Murchee’s Dairy Queen in Newport, where she worked. They were married in ’58 and their first son was born just after Ed graduated from UNH. Ed reported to his first Air Force assignment at Forbes AFB in Kansas one week later. He drove an old VW bug, with a small TV, several African Violet plants, and their last $43. When he drove through the gates at Forbes, he had exactly fifteen cents in his pocket.
Through the years their family grew with two more boys and three girls. They are Steve Chartrand from Las Vegas, Nev., and his two children, son Nicholas Chartrand from California., and daughter, Anna Hutchison, and family, also from Nevada. Anna and her husband Andy produced Ed and Janie’s great-grandchildren, six-year-old twins, Ollie and Jax. Tracey Wren-Cox, her partner, Steve Powers, and her daughter, Jessica all from western Tennessee. Denise and her husband, John Herron, from Norcross, Ga.; Chris Chartrand and wife, Belinda, and his son, Drew Chartrand from Marietta, Ga. Chris also loves and claims Belinda’s three daughters as his. Also, Eric Chartrand and wife, Natalie, from Birmingham, Ala., and their two teenage children, Aaron and Katie. And last but not least, Dawn Marie Walker, and husband Steve, and their 10-year-old daughter, Sydney, from Duluth, Ga.
When Ed was transferred to his last AF assignment in Tennessee, he and Janie bought 55 hilly acres in Shelbyville in the early 70s where they and all six of their children, built a two-story split-level home in the mountains that reminded them of New Hampshire. As for Ed’s hobbies, besides maintaining nearly a fleet of VW bugs that the children drove, he made beautiful wooden toys, and furniture for all their extended family. And in between the building and hobbies, he built decks for friends and neighbors. At their camp on Lake Willoughby in northern Vermont, he was always the go-to handyman to shut down several neighbors’ water systems and turn them back on in the Spring. If anyone needed him, Mr. Fix-it, as people called him, was there.
Early on in his life he repeatedly told his family that when he died, he wanted to be cremated “in a pine box.” And he wanted no religious ceremony, but for the whole family to get together and have “a blast with good food, home movies, and lots of laughs.” And they did just that.
He died May 3, 2023, with Janie, Denise, and Dawn by his side. The next day every one of the children, spouses, and some grandchildren showed up and did exactly what he asked for, for three wonderful days. And we all know that he was watching us with tears and a huge grin. Goodbye, Sweetheart.
