Stephen Chalmers

Stephen Chalmers, a long-time Quissett resident, passed away on February 13, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he’d moved to be near his son Jeremy. The cause was Alzheimer’s disease. He was born to Ema and Bruce Chalmers in London, England, in 1941 while the Blitz was burning nearby docks. After the war, the family moved to Oakville, Ontario, and on to Belmont, Mass in 1953. Steve graduated from Browne & Nichols School, then in 1963 from Harvard College, where he was on the varsity fencing team. After two years working for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Ethiopia tracking satellites, he took up engineering work at various Boston area companies. He and his wife Janet owned and operated the Village Printer in Falmouth for many years. Steve first summered in Falmouth in 1958 when his parents rented a cottage in Quissett. There he graduated from sailing dinghies on the Charles River to racing Herreshoff 12 1/2s on the Bay. He also met his future wife, fellow summer resident and gifted sailor Janet Burt. They settled in Scituate and moved to Falmouth year-round in 1986. Steve became Janet’s crew extraordinaire as well as a very good if somewhat eccentric racer in his own right. They both devoted endless energy to the Quissett Yacht Club for decades. Steve expressed affection more in deeds than in words. He found joy in using his prodigious creativity and practicality to solve the problems of family and friends, often with items he retrieved from his garage or basement. A sophisticated instance involved creating an electronic fencing scoring system that required no judge or judgment. It found wide use among coaches and students in schools and clubs. More famously, Steve came to the rescue in the 1980’s, when Quissett’s Fourth of July parade was flagging. He created a “July 4th Dragon” made of 120 feet of red, white and blue fabric, sewn into a caterpillar-like body. The dragon’s papier mache head rested on a repurposed boat cart. Beneath the fabric, dozens of kin, friends and kids provided the dragon’s legs as it paraded (excited pets alongside) around the harbor, up the hill, and back to the Harbor House. The numbers required and the procession’s annual eccentricities sustained the Quissett parade’s expansion until last year. While he preferred company, especially with a Heineken, when alone Steve was probably happiest walking in Beebe Woods, dog nearby, little saw in hand, clearing paths as he encountered obstructions. Doing it with grandchildren was better. Steve served as the volunteer Land Steward for Peterson Farm, a member of the Woods Hole Historical Collection Spritsail editorial board, a long-time board member of the Woods Hole Folk Music Society and the Cape Cod Fencing Club, and as one of the editors of QYC’s centennial history book. In addition to his son Jeremy (Dawn Lea), he leaves grandchildren Hadley (Adam Harrier) and Charles of Mississippi, Jancy, Isabelle and Hunter Grayson of Falmouth, sisters Carol Norton (Dave) of Fairbanks AK, Jane Chalmers (Frank Greve) of Washington DC, Alison Rodin (Dana) of Falmouth, and Heather Chalmers (Charles Starke) of Stamford, CT, and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his daughter Sarah Grayson (Ted) and wife Janet. A memorial celebration will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Steve’s memory to the Falmouth 300 Committee Land Trust (300Committee.org) or the Quissett Harbor Preservation Trust (qhpt.org).