Chester Mass History Museum

Today in Chester history: June 19, 1958 (Berkshire Eagle)

The Harris-Miller American Legion Post was chartered in Chester in 1931 and named for two Chester WWI soldiers who died in service, Paul W. Miller and Ray L. Harris.

Harriet (Kelso) Gilman was the holder of Chester's Golden Cane when she passed away on January 9, 2026 at the age of 104.

A Celebration of Life will be held on June 13 at 10:30am at the First Congregational Church of Chester, 334 Skyline Trail, Chester.

https://obits.masslive.com/us/obituaries/masslive/name/harriet-gilman-obituary?id=60808589

On this Memorial Day we honor the three Chester residents who were killed in action during World War II; Raymond E. Fiske, Stephen F. Fiske and Robert L. Sparks. (The Fiske men were not related, at least not closely).

Raymond Edward Fiske
Raymond was born in Chester in 1919. His mother was a Perry and Raymond and his parents lived with his Perry grandparents on Huntington Street (Route 20). He graduated from Chester High School in 1937 and worked for a few years as a mechanic.

He enlisted in 1942 while still living on Huntington Street but by the time he left for basic training at Camp Croft in South Carolina he had moved in with an uncle in Westfield. After basic training he went to Airborne School at Fort Bragg in Georgia and was assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry of the 82nd Airborne.

On July 10, 1943 he parachuted into Sicily Italy in what was at the time the largest combat parachute drop ever. The next day his division was attacked by a German Panzer Division in the Battle of Biazza Ridge and Raymond was killed.

He is buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy.

Stephen Fred Fiske
Stephen was born in 1925 in New York but moved to Becket as a child, then moved to Chester when he was about 10. They lived in Littleville and his father worked on the town road crew.

Stephen first worked at Arthur Pierce’s saw mill on the Middle Branch of the Westfield River near to the Fiske family home. When he enlisted in 1943 he was working for the Strathmore Paper Company in Woronoco.

Stephen took part in the D-Day invasion of the French Normandy coast in June of 1944, then on July 4 of that year he was shot while on a scouting mission as his company pushed inland from the coast. He was initially buried in a military cemetery in France but his body was sent home in 1948 and he was buried with his grandparents in the Norwich Bridge Cemetery.

After his death a gold star was added in his honor to the Service Flag at the Littleville Chapel. When the Littleville Chapel was about to be demolished in the 1960’s to make way for the Littleville Dam and Reservoir the Service Flag and bell were donated to the North Chester Chapel, where they remain today and are looked after by the North Chester Chapel Association.

Robert Lawrence Sparks
Robert was born in Becket in 1925 where his father Charles worked in the silk factory on Yokum Brook in the North Becket Village. A devastating flood in 1927 destroyed the silk mill and the family moved to Middlefield Street in Chester where his father drove trucks for construction companies.

Robert graduated from Chester High School in 1942 and started work at the Cortland Grinding Wheels Company.

He enlisted in 1943 and was sent to flight school. After getting his wings he was assigned to the 29th Bomber Group and sent to Guam. On March 10, 1945 he took part in The Great Tokyo Air Raid where over 300 B-29s flew from Guam for a bombing run over Tokyo. The plane he was in crashed into Fubo Mountain in Miyagi Japan during the mission and all crew members were killed.

The crew was initially buried by the Japanese in Honshu but in 1949 his remains were identified and returned to Chester where he was given a military funeral and buried in Pine Hill Cemetery.

The Memorial Day observance will be held at 10am at the Town Hall.