John Chequer

John Hamilton Chequer, recently of Schenectady and Lake Pleasant, died in the early hours of Monday, September 12, 2022, at Ellis Hospital. He was 87.

Born in Piseco, NY, he was the son of Hamilton and Frances (Dunham) Chequer and the younger brother of Joanne. After his parents purchased Melody Lodge in Lake Pleasant in 1937, John spent his early school years skiing to class after stoking the woodstoves in the lodge’s guest rooms. After completing high school at The Manlius Academy, he received a B.S. in Engineering from Yale University, going on to serve as an officer in the SeaBees, the renowned engineering and construction regiments of the U.S. Navy.

Following his Naval service, John settled in Massachusetts, receiving an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, establishing a career as a banker at the First National Bank of Boston, helping to raise three daughters with his first wife, and participating in his church community as part of the vestry and the church choir.

From Boston, John’s career took him to London as a banker and then to Los Angeles as the Chief Financial Officer of TOSCO, the Oil Shale Company, but in 1987, after a few independent ventures, he retired from the financial industry and returned to Lake Pleasant to care for his father. It was here he reconnected with life-long friend and kindred Adirondack spirit, Elizabeth “Bess” Taft. John and Bess married and remained in Lake Pleasant, first in a house they renovated themselves, inspiring their brief ownership of the GH Wood Construction Company. Later, they settled into a rhythm of winters in Schenectady’s Stockade district and summers at Bess’ family camp on Lake Pleasant, where John lived for his many caretaking chores, from chopping wood to building and winterizing additional accommodations on the property. Along with his work around the camp, John enjoyed contributing to the local library, donating time, books, and furniture to a memorial reading room in his father’s name.

Throughout his life, John loved music. He was a dedicated, if not virtuosic, trumpet player, known to say he would be torn if he had to choose between walking his daughters down the aisle and playing trumpet in their processionals. He could play piano by ear, sang in many a church choir, and the radio was always tuned to the local classical station. He was an avid reader with an impressive knowledge of history, and a generational love of canasta has been passed from his mother, through him, to his daughters and granddaughters… so far. But with all of these interests, what he might say he would miss the most is rocking quietly on the porch at camp, looking across the lake and noting exactly where the sun will set tonight.

John leaves behind his wife, Elizabeth Taft; his daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Richardson Hendee; his daughter, Anne Chequer; his daughter and son-and-law, Laura Chequer and Paul Craine; and his four grandchildren, Grace and Brooke Hendee and Ben and Duncan Craine. John’s sister, Joanne Pfaff, died this past April at age 91. A service for John will be held in Piseco at a later date.