The Lichtenwalner family regrets to announce the passing of Mrs. Phyllis Chadbourne Lichtenwalner, “Chad,” who died peacefully, at her home in Newtown, Conn., on Aug. 9, 2024, at the age of 96. She had been in failing health for some time.
She was born Phyllis Ruth Chadbourne in Boston, Mass. on Feb. 19, 1928, the second child of Edgar and Edna Chadbourne. The family relocated to a farm in Newcastle during the Depression. She attended the old Edison School and graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1945. She sang in the choir at The Second Congregational Church of Newcastle and was an ardent jazz musician, specializing in the valve trombone.
She matriculated at the University of Maine at Orono, and later transferred to the School of Nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she qualified as a registered nurse in 1949.
Chad took up a position as a staff nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she met a young medical resident, Dr. Craig Lichtenwalner. They became engaged and were married in Boston on March 3, 1951 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
Craig began his career in 1951 with the U.S. Public Health Service, and the newlyweds traveled to Ethiopia on a two-year assignment. Their son, Craig Jr., was born there in 1952. Chad negotiated the rigors of life in Addis Ababa with good-natured enthusiasm.
Returning to the U.S., they lived in Newton, Mass. while Craig continued his public health training. Their daughter, Christine, was born there in 1954.
In 1955, the family traveled to Saigon, Vietnam on assignment with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Their son, Mark, was born there in 1957. The family reveled in the charms of Southeast Asia, before the clouds of war were fully gathered.
Craig left government service in 1960 and went to work for the American University of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon, where he served as a professor and university administrator. Chad was very active in university affairs, serving as the chairperson of the university’s women’s auxiliary for many years. She also continued her own education and received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Beirut University College. Their daughter, Emily, was born there in 1965. During this sojourn, the family erected a summer camp on Lake Pemaquid, which stands to this day.
The family moved to the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1976, where Chad worked for the Ministry of Health, teaching nursing students in the newly founded School of Health Sciences.
Returning to the U.S. for good in 1979, the family moved into the old Farley house in Damariscotta, while Emily attended school at Lincoln Academy. They enjoyed a much-needed period of readjustment to life in the United States. Throughout all the family’s travels, Chad maintained a deep affection for the Twin Villages and was never happier than when back in Maine.
In 1986, Chad and Craig moved to Columbus, Ga. Craig worked for the state as a regional health director and Chad worked for many years as a nurse at the Bradley Center, a private mental health hospital. She also operated her own company, Nursing Consultants Inc., as a private contractor. Chad believed very deeply in the proper deployment of accessible programs to provide care for those suffering from the effects of mental illness and addiction. Her commitment to professionalism in the provision of care was absolute. She was herself a person in recovery, having been a member of Alcoholics Anonymous for some 42 years.
Chad and Craig retired in 1998 and relocated to Atlanta and, later, Acworth, Ga. She enjoyed gardening, knitting, and caring for her beloved cat, Lovey. She remained a much-beloved family matriarch. She was a good storyteller, always keen to reminisce about her many adventures overseas. An ardent sports fan, she followed the Atlanta Braves baseball club from their earliest days as a Boston franchise.
Later in life, she was received into the Roman Catholic faith. She was a communicant at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown. She received the comfort of the sacraments in her last days.
She is survived by her children, Craig Jr. and his wife, Shawna, Christine Haddad and her partner, Martin, Mark and his wife, Marcia, and Emily Burr and her husband, Tim; grandchildren, Alex, Nick, Haley, and Nicole Medina and her husband, Alex; her nephew, Glenn Chadbourne and his wife, Sheila, and by her nephew, David Chadbourne and his wife, Patrice. She also leaves a sister-in-law, Susan Lichtenwalner, as well as all of Susan’s numerous and far-flung descendants. She was preceded in death by Craig, her husband of 69 years; and by her brothers, Robert Chadbourne and Paul Chadbourne and his wife, Shirley. Rest in peace, one and all.
Funeral arrangements are with Green Funeral Home in Danbury, Conn.
