Frederick S. Townsend, Sr.

Frederick S. Townsend, Sr., of Hollis, NH, passed away peacefully November 11, at the age of 102. Mr. Townsend was the possessor of the Boston Post Cane for the Town of Hollis as its oldest living resident.

Mr. Townsend was born on April 27, 1912, in New Haven, CT, to the late C. Frederick Townsend and Florence (Snow) Townsend. He lived in the New Haven area until age 99 when he moved to Hollis to live with his daughter.

Mr. Townsend’s death was preceded by his wife, Doris (Birchman), in 2001 after 67 years of marriage. He is survived by his daughter, Barbara Townsend; grandsons, Bill Kte’pi and Brian Vickers, and great-granddaughter, Destiny Vickers, all from Hollis, NH. He is also survived by his son, Frederick S. Townsend, Jr., and his wife Corinne of Wolcott, CT; grandsons, Frederick III, Christopher, and Robert; and granddaughters, Carolyn Shields and Cynthia; great-grandsons, Dominick Townsend, Liam, Kieran and Ayden Shields; and his great-great-granddaughter, Ellie Townsend.

Mr. Townsend’s great-great-granddaughter, Ellie, was born two days before his death, so there were five living generations of Townsends for a period of three calendar days.

Mr. Townsend entered college two months before the 1929 stock market crash, and was the second of five generations to attend Lehigh University. His entire working career of 47 years was spent with the New Haven Savings Bank. He was a teller when all banking transactions were entered by hand into passbooks, and was so popular with customers that multiple people would wait in his line rather than go to an open window to be served. He was on the New Haven Savings Bank pistol team, and bowling team.

He was a very gentle soul with a dry sense of humor who thrived on organization, order, frugality and privacy. Up to age 100, he would walk by himself to a breakfast diner to be there when the doors opened at 6 a.m. Once in Hollis, he could be found at the Market Place Diner at 6 a.m for breakfast. He enjoyed working in his yard, building stone walls and a wildlife trail through his property, with an emphasis on natural landscaping.

In the winter, he was an avid stamp collector who soaked, sorted, and packaged stamps to sell at cost to children through Junior Scholastic magazine in an effort to interest them in the hobby of stamp collecting. He was also an avid and accomplished bridge player with master points.

Mr. Townsend was laid to rest in New Haven, CT, alongside his wife and parents.