NORTH WALPOLE, N.H. – Charles William Milliken Sr., 80, of North Walpole, N.H., passed away peacefully Dec. 5, 2021, at the Sullivan County Health Care nursing home in Unity, N.H.
Born Dec. 30, 1940, in Boston, Mass., Chuck attended public school in Boston before enlisting in the Air Force in 1958, at the age of 18, and served our country for four years. In 1959, while stationed at Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland, Canada, he met Dallas Brenda Mercer, and they were married Aug. 12, 1961, in Boston. Chuck and Brenda were happily married for 60 years.
After the Air Force, Chuck worked at Kennedy’s Butter & Egg in Jamaica Plain (Boston), before going to work in retail for the F.W. Woolworth Company in 1968 as an assistant manager and then a store manager. Over the years he managed Woolworth stores (and one Woolco store) in Somerville, Medford, Stoneham, and Agawam, Mass., Kingston and Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and Keene, Claremont, and Lebanon, N.H. He retired from Woolworths in 1995 and was by then better known to many as “Pop.”
Chuck was very loyal and a hard worker his whole life. From the age of 12 selling newspapers, shining shoes, and setting up bowling pins in Boston, to proudly serving his country, to his nearly 30 years of faithful service to Woolworths, he always believed in going to work every day and giving an honest effort in order to better himself and his family.
Upon his retirement, Pop made a hobby out of going to see all his sons’, grandkids’, and great-grandkids’ school and sports events, and he would travel far and wide to support all his family’s activities. Pop was also a very loyal Boston sports fan, especially to the Red Sox, Patriots, and Bruins. He was thrilled to enjoy four Red Sox World Series Championships, six Patriot Super Bowl titles, and the Bruins Stanley Cup win in 2011.
Above all else, however, “family” was the most important thing to Pop. He had so many wonderful relationships with not only his children and his siblings, but also his many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, brothers- and sisters-in-law, daughters-in-law, nieces and nephews, and really all who are a part of his “extended family.” Pop truly cared about everyone in his family and went to great lengths to always maintain those relationships and lend a helping hand and a kind word whenever anyone needed him… no questions asked. He will always be remembered as an honest, loyal, hardworking family man, and his memory will forever be cherished.
Pop was predeceased by his parents Elliot and Nellie, sisters Alice Corbett, Harriet Doolittle, and Evelyn Tornberg, and brothers Elliot and Donald Milliken. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Brenda, his son Charles Jr. and wife Bonnie of Charlestown, N.H., son Joseph and wife Kelly of Bellows Falls, Vt., and son John of Claremont, N.H. Pop also dearly loved his five grandchildren Alyssa (and her husband Alex), Craig, Nathan, Erin, and Justin, and his four great-grandchildren Claire, Grace, Emmett, and Teeghan.
Arrangements were made by Fenton & Hennessey Funeral Home in Bellows Falls, Vt. There were no calling hours, and a private service for immediate family was held at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Walpole, N.H. The Milliken family will be hosting a “celebration of life” for their beloved Pop in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the Cedarcrest Center for Children with Disabilities, 91 Maple Ave., Keene, NH 03431, or at www.cedarcrest4kids.org.