Obituary of Lloyd J. Chaffee

GREENWOOD: Lloyd J. Chaffee, 95, of Main St. passed away Sunday (Jan. 18, 2015) at Jones memorial Hospital in Wellsville following a brief illness. He was a life long resident of Greenwood who was born June 28, 1919 in Andover to Victor and Chrystal (Loveland) Chaffee. On June 25, 1943 in Greenwood, he married the former Irene L. Wallace who survives and resides in Greenwood. He was predeceased by an infant son Dale L. Chaffee and a sister Marion Dixon. Although many will grieve the loss of Lloyd Chaffee, his family and friends who knew him and loved him would suggest that instead, you rejoice in a life well lived, a life full of laughter, family, faith and friends. We ask that you remember with a smile the long tan legs made strong through years in his garden, through physical labor done at his cottage and time spent "tinkering" in the garage. We ask that you remember the giant hands that engulfed yours when you shook hands for the first time, the swollen middle finger broken and crooked from his service to our country during World War II, but yet gentle and tender enough to hold the hands of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We ask that you remember his long muscular arms that carried your mail for 28 years, that enveloped you when you were hurting or that wrapped around his wife when they danced. And, more than anything, his family asks that you remember with fondness and possibly even a little envy, his heart. For it was his heart that took him from being a good man, one that people would mourn; to a great man, one who should be celebrated and cherished and certainly never forgotten. It was his heart for service that drove him to join the Masons, the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department, the American Legion, the VFW, the Moose, and to sit on the Greenwood School Board. It was his heart for God that carried him to church every Sunday, honored those who have passed as president of the Greenwood Cemetery Association and that found the energy and strength to fix hundreds of furnaces on cold winter nights. It was his heart for community that drove him to build his home and then his business in the small town of Greenwood. His heart, that toiled away at making the town beautiful and safe, and a place that its residents could be proud of. A heart that spent countless hours making more than one hundred stands for anyone or any organization that asked; always free and always given with love. And it was his heart that we will all miss the most. Because undoubtedly, if you ever had the pleasure of meeting Lloyd Chaffee, it was his heart that caused you to never forget him and it was his heart that will allow him to live on inside of each of us forever. If you were ever to ask Lloyd what his greatest accomplishment in life and his legacy would be, his answer would have been simple and straightforward, his family. He loved them truly and deeply and at the end, hated to leave them behind. In addition to his wife Irene, to whom he was married to for 71 years, Lloyd is survived by two sons: Gary (Maria) Chaffee of Avon and Duane (Betsy) Chaffee of Greenwood. He is also survived by three wonderful grandchildren: Charina (Deryk) Kraemer, Erin (Dustin) Chaffee- Wells and Alison (Timothy) Brown, as well as seven great grandchildren. His legacy will live on in his many remaining friends, in his "adopted" children Suzanne and Sarajean and their families, and in the residents of Greenwood, his home. So, although it may be difficult to celebrate the loss of someone such as Lloyd, we, his family, ask that you take your cue from him. Don't allow for this loss to define your day, to defeat you or harden you. Instead take it as an opportunity to thank God for a beautiful life, take stock of your blessings, hug those that you love, and above all follow in Lloyd's footsteps and live life "with authority." The family of Lloyd Chaffee will receive friends from 1-3 and 6-8 pm Thursday at the H.P. Smith & Son, Inc. Funeral Home, 29 East Main St. in Canisteo where a Masonic service will take place at 7:30 followed by funeral and committal services with military honors, immediately following calling hrs. at 8:00 pm. Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Greenwood, N.Y. Memorial contributions in Lloyd Chaffee's name may be made to either: the Greenwood Cemetery Association c/o Robert Streeter P.O. Box 735, Greenwood, N.Y. 14839 or to the Greenwood United Methodist Church c/o Darold Coddington, P.O. Box 966, Greenwood, N.Y. 14839. Service: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 8:00 PM H.P. Smith & Son, Inc. 29 East Main St. Canisteo, N.Y. Visitation: Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015 1-3 and 6-8 PM H.P. Smith & Son, Inc. 29 East Main St. Canisteo, N.Y.