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This article was published 17 year(s) and 5 month(s) ago

Swampscott says goodbye to beloved pastor

dglidden

April 18, 2008 by dglidden

SWAMPSCOTT – Laughter, tears and smiles mingled freely at St. John the Evangelist on Thursday morning as the parish said goodbye to their beloved pastor, the Rev. Clyde Chetwynde.Chetwynde, 59, passed away suddenly at the rectory on Saturday.Chetwynde was appointed pastor of St. John the Evangelist by Archbishop Sean O’Malley and he was installed as the pastor of St. John the Evangelist on April 17, 2005 by Most Rev. Francis X. Irwin, bishop of the North Region, who presided over his funeral Mass.The Rev. Dennis Burns recounted how Chetwynde was born with a hole in his heart, almost died in infancy and had health problems his entire life.”He always lived with realization that death was at the threshold,” he said. “He lived each day as if it were the only important day.”Burns said Chetwynde’s life embodied the Beatitudes.”He was the most self-effacing man I ever met,” he said.Burns said Chetwynde was also a peacemaker, always had the strength to fight for what was right and was “generous to a fault.””He was a good conversationalist,” he said. “He liked a good story and a good joke.”As the casket was led down the center aisle of the church past the rows of mourners, applause erupted throughout the church and tears flowed down the faces of those present as they said farewell to their beloved priest.Rita and Ed Collins, who have been parishioners at St. John the Evangelist in Swampscott for 27 years, said the parish was blessed to have him as their priest.”He was such a warm human being,” Rita said. “People gravitated towards him and he really cared about people.”Ed Collins said Chetwynde would be missed, then added with a grin, “Now I can say I really know someone in heaven.”Parishioners from his former parish, St. John the Evangelist in Townsend, were on hand to pay their respects to Chetwynde including Kathleen Twombly, who is the religious education director at St. John the Evangelist in Townsend.”He meant a lot to my family and our parish,” she said. “He had a gift for ministering to people. He made everyone feel like they were his favorite person. He was an extremely humble and well loved man.”

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