Originally posted on: 2009-01-03

Original location: http://blog.chrisheath.us/2009/01/03/827/in-memory-of-graham-peters-chynoweth-1945-2008/


See the online memorial created in his honor.
http://grahampchynoweth.com/

  
Download now or listen on posterous
01 Track 1.mp3 (6323 KB)

Posted via email from heathbar's posterous

Graham P.'s Story

After a three years of living with cancer, Graham Peters Chynoweth, born Graham John Chynoweth, completed his 'journey to the other shore,’ with his wife, Linda Chynoweth Peters, by his side, in the sun room at their home in Canterbury on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 27, 2008.

Graham was born in his mother’s parental home in Portsmouth England to Beryl (nee Fancey) Chynoweth and Jack Chynoweth, a U.S. Army officer. His childhood was a world tour, with stays in Germany, Washington DC, Virginia, northern Japan, and California. After graduating from Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, DC he matriculated to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut graduating in 1968 with a B.S. in engineering. His service in the Coast Guard included a tour of duty on the Coast Guard Cutter “Hamilton” including one year off of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

After successfully completing his service with the Coast Guard, he completed a Masters in hospital administration at George Washington University, in Washington, DC. Upon graduation, he moved to New Hampshire, and after a brief career in health administration, he enrolled in law school at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire. After graduating in 1983 with his law degree, he helped found the law firm Barnes, Bender & Chynoweth. In the the early 1990s he left the firm to found Chynoweth Legal Services, which he expanded with partner Mark Cornell in 2006 to Chynoweth Cornell Legal Services. He focused his legal career on family law, finding professional and personal fulfillment in helping his clients through some of the most difficult times in their lives. He was an expert and regular speaker on divorce law, family law, and the administration of justice. An active member of the New Hampshire Bar Association, he served as a member of its Board of Governors and twice as chair of its Family Law Section.

In addition to his work in the law, Graham was an avid public servant. Shortly after arriving in New Hampshire, he initiated the movement that resulted in the creation of New Hampshire Public Radio, served as the first chair of the organization’s Board of Directors, and was the first voice broadcast on the station (then known as 'WEVO'). While in law school he was elected to serve as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Later in life he would be elected to serve for many terms as a member of the Shaker Regional School Board and the Town of Canterbury Planning Board.

In 1973 he was introduced to the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers), a faith that embraced and guided him for the rest of his life. He was active in Concord Monthly Meeting, Dover Quarterly Meeting and New England Yearly Meeting, where he served in various leadership positions over thirty years. Among his joys of working in the Quaker community were his work as a long time trustee of the Obediah Brown Benevolent Fund and as a staff member charged with nurturing elementary school children at the annual summer gathering of New England Quakers.

In addition to his public life, he enjoyed raising and following the lives of his children, tending to the gardens and grounds around the house in Canterbury with his loving wife, and competing exuberantly on the squash court.

He is survived by his wife Linda and youngest son Peter, both residing in Canterbury, his other children Gray, of Manchester, Kate, of Pittsburgh, PA and Emo of Woodstock, VT, and his sisters, Helen Kampion of Wayland, MA and Eva Layton of Atlanta, GA.


0 comments (not shown)


Previous Post: Dupes & ongoing updates to Digg’s algo

Next Post: Robert Scoble on TWiT Live with Leo Laporte

Back to archive index