Chester E. Homer ’51  died on January 18, 2011, in Kennebunk, Maine.

(The following was provided by the Portland Press Herald January 18, 2011:)

KENNEBUNK BEACH — Chester E. Homer Jr., 84, of Kennebunk Beach, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his home on Sunday evening, Jan. 16, 2011, from

complications of lung cancer.

He was born in Boston, Mass., on May 12, 1926, the son of Chester and Georgianna (née Tombs) Homer Sr.

He was the loving husband of Carolyn Needles Homer; and wonderful father to Chester E. Homer III and his wife, Shirley, of Portsmouth, N.H. and Kennebunkport, Sally Homer Vallimarescu and her husband, Dan, of New York City, and Anne Homer Hurd of Carlisle, Mass. He was a devoted grandfather to Eliza Hurd Drake, Ryan and Oliver Hurd, Geoffrey and Kristin Homer, Sarah, Peter and Ben Vallimarescu; and a proud great-grandfather of five-month-old Miles Chester Drake. ‘Chets,’ as he was lovingly referred to by many, derived some of his greatest pleasures in life on the sidelines of his grandchildren’s sporting events.

He was an avid golfer, and in his younger years, a skier, runner, biker, roller-blader, and hockey player. He grew up in Newton, Mass., and attended Andover Academy before serving in World War II as a paratrooper in the 81st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army. He graduated in 1951 from Bowdoin College, where he was a member of the varsity hockey team and Theta Delta Chi fraternity. He was the recipient of the 2010 Polar Bear Award from the Bowdoin College Alumni Council in recognition of significant personal contributions and outstanding dedication to Bowdoin.

He spent his entire career in the once-thriving, but now-defunct textile industry of Boston, Mass., in partnership (forty-three years) with his elder brother, Richard, at R.W. Homer & Co., of Summer Street. He was one of the last surviving wool merchants in the city of Boston.

He lived with his family in Wellesley Hills, Mass., and was a long-time member of Wellesley Country Club. During this time, he summered at Kennebunk Beach, where he lived exclusively for the past thirty years. He was a member of the Webhannet Golf Club since 1947, serving as a former president and a member of the board of governors for many years. He was also a founding member of the Coastal Association of Kennebunk Beach and a member of Arundel Yacht Club.