TUCSON, Ariz. – Arthur Eugene Chayer, Lieutenant, United States Navy (Retired), 80, in Tucson, Ariz. on July 13. Father to many, grandfather and great-grandfather to many more, husband to the late Elizabeth Lyle Lowell of Bethel and Bjorg Sellevaag Olsen of Hudson.

Born in Milan, N.H., on Sept. 15, 1923, to the late Eugene and Myrtle Chayer of Bethel. He, a 25 year veteran of the U.S. Navy, served in World War II and the Korean War.

He was a man who started from humble beginnings raised in the woods of Maine by his father after the death of his mother at an early age. He graduated from Gould Academy in Bethel, and entered the Navy immediately thereafter. He was assigned duties as a Yeoman and achieved the rank of Yeoman Chief Petty Officer. Chief Chayer later applied for, and was accepted into, the Limited Duty Officer Program and, upon completion, was commissioned Ensign, U.S. Navy. Lieutenant Chayer served on ships at sea including, as plank owner, the USS Dewey and the USS Essex, as well as various admirals staffs and other shore stations.

His first wife, Elizabeth, bore him seven children. Upon her death he retired from the Navy and returned home to Maine to rear his family. Years later he met the second jewel of his life Bjorg, who had four children of her own. He and Bjorg married and settled in Caribou, where he was the Director of a local nursing home. While he and Bjorg did not have children together, they together raised their children.

His legacy is the pride, honor, self-determination and sense of family he instilled in his children. His love, his wit and his charm will be missed.

He is survived by 11 children, Cynthia Salisbury, Cherie Whitworth, Linwood (wife Jan), Bente (husband Bruce Fadden), Lars Olsen (wife Chris), Sidsel (husband Roger Michaud), Wanda (husband Myron Hale), Kevin (wife Regina), Sean (wife JoAnn Machacek), Julie Kresge and Karen (husband Tom Olsen); 26 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren and a sister, Mabel Peare.

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