FARMINGTON – Robert C. Chassie, 89, of Farmington, died Friday afternoon, Sept. 3, at his home in Farmington.

He was born Dec. 7, 1914, in Woodland, the son of William and Ethel Perreault Chassie. He graduated in 1939 from Stephens High School, Rumford, and from Farmington State Normal School in 1937, where he majored in history and was on the debate team.

He left Farmington after college to seek his fortune in New York, where he quickly rose in the corporate ranks to the position of head merchandiser and operations manager at Montgomery Ward & Co. in Albany, N.Y.

He also graduated from the Dale Carnegie Institute at Burdett College in Boston in 1952.

When World War II was declared, Bob set aside his career and enlisted in the United States Army as a private, and rose to the rank of staff sergeant.

On July 1, 1941, after basic training, he married Dorothy M. “Dot” (Hagadorn) Chassie, his wife for 57 years, at an army base in Fayetteville, N.C. He was selected for Officer Candidate School and became captain, serving on the general’s staff during the war at Army Headquarters in Boston. He continued to serve in the United States Army Reserves until 1955, rising to the rank of major.

He was proud of his wartime service to his country and was active in veteran’s affairs the rest of his life. He is a Past Commander of Roderick Crosby Post #28, American Legion, a Past Commander of the Franklin County American Legion, and a Past Chef de Guerre of Voiture #918, 40 & 8.

Bob fell in love with Farmington during college, and considered it home. In 1952, he realized his dream of moving home to Farmington, raising a family and opening his own business. He purchased Edwards Dept. Store, a retail clothing store on Broadway in Farmington, changed the name to Chassie’s Department Store, and drawing on his merchandising training and experience in New York before the war, expanded the business during the 50s to include successful department stores in Farmington, Wilton and Livermore Falls. He also brought cable television to Farmington, serving as treasurer and general co-manager of Franklin Cable T.V., Inc.

He was active in community service and politics, serving as president of the Farmington Business Association, chairman of the Farmington Board of Selectmen, chairman of the Farmington Village Corporation Planning Board, secretary of the Farmington Budget Committee, secretary of the Farmington Development Corp., secretary/treasurer of Wilson Lake Country Club, and served on the board of directors of the Maine Merchant’s Association and Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Bob sold the businesses and semi-retired in 1975, but continued to work. He worked for the Farmington Water Department reading water meters, the security department at FMH where his wife, “Dot,” also worked for many years, and as a school crossing guard into his 80s.

He had good health and good quality of life until the last few months of his life, and died peacefully in his sleep in his own home.

Bob contributed much to his family and the Farmington community he loved. He will be remembered as a good and gentle man, an avid reader and history buff, a business and community leader, a lover of animals, a man with many friends whose influence lives on in the Farmington community in the work of the many community servants he mentored and supported later in life.

He is survived by a son, Lynn R. Chassie of Farmington and Lynn’s partner, Wynona “Wy” Whitman, whose patience and commitment to caring for him at home his last 16 months of life spared him from having to enter a nursing home; a daughter, Barbara R. Chassie of New Sharon; two grandsons, Barry Chassie and his wife, Kathy, of Broad Brook, Conn., and Robert Chassie, a senior at the University of Maine at Orono, and their mother, Harriet D. Chassie; and twin great-granddaughters, Bria and Jenna Chassie.

He was predeceased by his parents of Rumford; his wife, Dorothy M. “Dot” Chassie, who left him on Dec. 23, 1998; his dog “Trixie;” and four Siamese cats.

The family extends special thanks to Julie Lancaster, PCA, Bob’s caretaker the last several weeks of his life, who was with him when he died.

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