Walter F. Sawyer

 

A private burial is planned. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. Brandon Funeral Home, 17 Main St., Ashburnham is directing arrangement.



ASHBURNHAM – Walter F. Sawyer III, 81, died peacefully in his home on May 4, 2016 with his loving wife by his side.

Walter, affectionately known as Tom, was born May 15, 1934 in Fitchburg, the son of Walter Fairbanks and Elizabeth Williams Sawyer. He was a football player at Fitchburg High School and a life-long Red Raider. He went on to graduate from Worcester Academy and the University of Maine, Orono. He returned to Fitchburg to work in the paper mills and stayed in the paper field his entire professional life, finally selling his own business, Cheever Specialty Products, Inc., and retiring in 2014.

Walter loved the Red Sox and to read, cook, fish, bird watch, battle squirrels, play tennis, and spend time with his family, particularly his grandchildren. He was a trusted friend, had a quick wit, and was a master of the one liner. He was a good, honest, hardworking man who infuriatingly thought complicated things were simple, and he was usually right. He will be dearly missed.

Walter leaves his devoted wife of 57 years, Charleen Capone Sawyer; two sons, Peter Sawyer of West Tisbury, MA and Jonathan Sawyer and his wife, Marta, of Guatemala City, Guatemala; a daughter, Ann Svensen and her husband, Stephen, of Scituate, MA; a brother, George W. Sawyer and his wife, Nancy, of Amherst, NH; four grandchildren, Nathaniel, Will, Anna, and Thomas, and many dear nieces and nephews.