Obituary of Raymond R. Chaves

Raymond R. Chaves, 93, passed away peacefully at his Kingston home of 67 years on February 10, 2024. He was surrounded by his loving family. Ray, known better as “Ray from Kingston Sheet Metal” was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and brother.

Fiercely proud of his Portuguese Azorean roots, he was the son of Jose S. Chaves and Maria (Sousa Moura) Chaves. He was born April 20, 1930 in West Bridgewater, MA. He graduated from Howard High School in 1949. Following high school he worked to put himself through the Wentworth Institute of Technology. He was the president of his senior class and graduated in 1954 with his certificate as an Aircraft Mechanic. Ray was a proud veteran of the Korean War serving in the Naval Air Force Reserves. He would tell many stories of his time flying in PBY’s during the war. Post his college graduation he worked for Pratt & Whitney in CT before returning to MA where he co-founded Kingston Sheet Metal Inc in March of 1957. For the next 68 years, his business located in downtown Kingston was his life's work. He had the good fortune of working alongside both his sons, Joe and Gregory, who joined him in the business in the mid 1980’s. Throughout his many years in business he had the privilege of working with thousands of area homeowners and businesses, and would often be out after hours and on weekends assisting on no heat calls or anytime someone needed help. Although he was ill he was down at his beloved shop as recently as the week before his passing, something that would not surprise anyone who knew Ray, retirement was not in his vocabulary.

In addition to his business, he was over the years an active member of the community. Ray served on both the town Finance Committee, School Building Committee and as a Little League coach. For many years he was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Lions Club, and you would always find him every Friday night at the Sacred Heart Bingo selling his “Lucky 7’s”. He had just renewed his membership to the Hilltop AA Club where he was the most senior member of 62 years. Before the Covid pandemic in 2020, he could be found every Saturday afternoon for decades down the club playing cards with his friends.

The most important aspect of Ray’s life was his family. Above all else he was a devoted family man and husband. He met the love of his life, Helen, his wife of 67 years in 1952 while they were both commuting to Boston for college. They were married in July 1956 and after living a short time in West Bridgewater they put down roots in Kingston in March of 1957. Here they raised their 4 children, Susan, Joe, Gregory and Beth. Ray enjoyed sharing his love of animals and over the years they raised many. His wife Helen often joked that he was a “frustrated farmer” raising his cows, pigs, goats, chickens, rabbits and a horse on just an acre of land. He was an avid gardener throughout his life, planning his garden footprint each winter and bringing it to life in the spring, and tending to his grapevine and fruit trees. Ray enjoyed sending his children and grandchildren home with fresh vegetables every time they visited.

He valued most of all the time he got to spend making memories with his family. As his children were growing up it was yearly ski trips and summer travels up north. As his family expanded with eleven grandchildren, Ray cherished his ability to take his entire family of children and grandchildren on many trips and outings. Whether it was apple picking in the fall, Portuguese Holy Ghost Festas every June, Disney World, Bermuda, Ireland and multiple trips to the Azores, -where it was very important for him to connect and share his heritage and traditions. So much so that later in life he obtained his dual citizenship with Portugal. Another very important aspect of the Chaves family was “Monday Night Dinner” which was a weekly event that his children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and daughter in law attended for almost 30 years. It was a gathering he loved.

Raymond leaves behind his beloved wife of 67 years, Helen (Daniels) Chaves, and his children, Susan Kaye of Kingston, Gregory Chaves of Plympton, Elizabeth Williams and her husband Greg of Plympton, and daughter-in-law Mary-Ellen Chaves of Kingston. He is also survived by his sisters, Dorothy (Chaves) Caramanica of Bridgewater and Joyce (Chaves) Gillen and her husband Denis of Safety Harbor, FL. Also sharing in grief are his eleven adoring grandchildren, Michelle, Erika, Kathleen, Brian, Erin, Sarah, Caitlin, Emily, Olivia, Colin, Danielle; and seven great-grandchildren, Liam, Natalie, Amelia, Ella, Cameron, Wesley, and Owen. He is pre-deceased by his son Joseph L. Chaves, six siblings, Grace Sousa, Alice Braun,Dorothy Chaves, Arthur Chaves, Hilda Chaves, and Barbara Tompkins.

Visiting hours will be held at the Shepherd Funeral Home, 216 Main Street, Kingston MA, on Monday, February 19th from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. A funeral service will be celebrated on Tuesday, February 20th at 11:00 am at Shepherd Funeral Home followed by a graveside service at the Evergreen Cemetery Kingston MA.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Joseph L. Chaves Memorial Scholarship Fund. Check donations can be sent to 1 Redcoat Lane Kingston, MA 02364, and Venmo donations can be made to @Caitlin-Chaves.