| Notes |
- Charles Allen Jr. is a lumberman in Williamsburg, Mass. (1947). Charles A. Bisbee was also a funeral director. He and Vesta were members of the Bisbee Family Connection in 1998. He was retired and operating a Bisbee Mill Museum in Chesterfield, Mass.
Bisbee Family Connection, May 2004, vol 16, issue 2, p 8, Charles Allen Bisbee Obituary
CHESTERFIELD -- Charles Allen Bisbee Jr. 85, of 79 Stage Road, died March 21 in Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass.
Born Jun 8, 1918, in Chesterfield, he was the son of the late Charles A. Sr. and Emily H. (Baker) Bisbee.
A lifelong resident of Chesterfield, he graduated in 1935 from the former Williamsburg High School and from the former Northampton Commercial College in 1938, he graduated from the New England Institute of Embalming in Boston.
He had wintered for many years in Tucson, Ariz.
He was a U.S. Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, achieving the rank of captain.
He leaves his wife of 60 years, Vesta "Betty" (Thomson); a son, John Bisbee, of chesterfield; two daughters, Carolyn Bisbee of Portland, Maine, and Kathleen Brisbois, of Chesterfield; three brothers, Robert L. of Williamsburg, Va., Russell t. and William H. Bisbee of Chesterfield; a sister Mary Lou Curtis of Florence; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
The Recorder, March 30, 2004
Charles A. Bisbee Jr., retired state senator
CHESTERFIELD ? Charles Allen Bisbee Jr., 85, a retired Massachusetts state senator who once represented several Franklin County towns, died Sunday (3-21-04), at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.
Born in Chesterfield, June 8, 1918, he was the son of Charles A. and Emily H. (Baker) Bisbee. He graduated in 1935 from Williamsburg High School, from the former Northampton Commercial College and in 1938 from the New England Institute of Embalming. He was a lifelong resident of Chesterfield.
He enlisted in the Air Corps during World War II, entering as a private and achieving the rank of captain.
Bisbee served the town of Chesterfield as selectman for 19 years and as an assessor for 16 years. He was a state representative from 1949 to 1962, when he was elected senator, serving until 1966.
He was past president of the Massachusetts Selectmen?s Association and associate commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Works from 1966 to 1971.
Bisbee was appointed by the governor to serve as the superintendent of the Soldiers Home in Holyoke from 1971 to 1980, and was also past president of the National Association of State Veterans Homes from 1978 to 1979. He served on a special commission for former Gov. Ed King in 1981. He was a past trustee and director of the former Northampton Institution for Savings and the former Heritage Bank, a combination of 25 years, retiring in 1987.
A licensed funeral director, he operated the Charles A. Bisbee Funeral Home until his retirement in 1995. He was vice president and trustee of Bisbee Brothers, chairman of the town?s 1962 bicentennial celebration and had been involved in Fourth of July parades for more than 35 years. He and his wife were honored as marshals at the parade?s 50th anniversary.
He was a member of the Hampden Harvest Club, Chesterfield Congregational Church, Hampshire Lodge of Masons, a member and past commander of the Cummington American Legion Post 304 and a member and past director of the Three County Fair in Northampton.
A longtime volunteer fireman for the town of Chesterfield, he was a member of the Chesterfield Grange, former special Grange deputy, charter member of the Chesterfield Historical Society and was its president since 1993. He was an associate member of the Church of the Painted Hills in Arizona and a member of the Hillside Agricultural Society of Cummington.
In 1995, the Bisbee family gave the old shop and mill to the Chesterfield Historical Society for use as a museum. It was dedicated in 1997 as the Charles A. Bisbee Sr. Agricultural and Industrial Museum, now known as the Bisbee Mill Museum. In 1989, he served as the chairman of the fund-raiser for the Chesterfield Congregational Church, which undertook a major renovation of the church and the parsonage.
He raised Christmas trees for many years, donating them to area charities for fund-raisers.
He often stated, ?I never made a nickel on these trees, but the friendships we made with the needy families were priceless.?
Bisbee was a published author, writing two books, one about his father-in-law, Andrew Thomson, a cowboy in Nebraska, titled, ?Harvest,? and the second, his biography, ?Roads Traveled.?
Survivors include his wife of 60 years, the former Vesta ?Betty? Thomson; a son, John and his wife, Mary Lou of Chesterfield; two daughters, Carolyn of Portland, Maine, and Kathleen Brisbois and her husband, Jim, of Chesterfield; three brothers, Robert L. and his wife, Delores, of Williamsburg, and Russell T. and his wife, Alice, and William H. and his wife, Norma, all of Chesterfield; a sister, Mary Lou Curtis of Florence; a sister-in-law, Lillian of Chesterfield; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Chesterfield Congregational Church, with a reception to follow at the Chesterfield Senior Center. Burial will be in Center Cemetery later in the spring.
There are no calling hours.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Chesterfield Congregational Church of the Bisbee Mill Museum, in care of Janet LaRoche, 167 South St., Chesterfield, MA 01012.
Czelusniak Funeral Home, Northampton, is in charge of arrangements. [5]
- Charles Allen Bisbee, Jr. served in WWII. He has been a town selectman; State Representative; Commissioner of the state DPW in Boston; Superintendant, Holyoke Soldiers Home; and Director of Bisbee Funeral Home. [6]
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1918 - 2004 (85 years)
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