Raymond Daniel “Danny” Cheney, 83, passed away peacefully on July 2, 2023, after battling kidney disease due to anaplasmosis. He was born to Raymond P. Cheney and Helen Oslin Cheney on Jan. 16, 1940 in Boothbay Harbor. Dan was a kind, humble, hardworking family man with a group of diverse friends. He would always share great stories with anyone who would listen.
Dan grew up in New Harbor and attended local schools. He graduated from Bristol High School and then continued his education at Maine Central Institute for two years. While at MCI he played soccer, football, and was on the dorm council. Dan attended University of Maine at Orono where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1964. He was a proud member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity during his years at UMaine. Dan worked and saved for his entire education by digging and selling clams in Maine and Massachusetts. He always claimed that he and his good friend had broken the area dig record with 70 bushels of clams in one tide. Lobstering was also a side job for Dan starting at a young age and, following in his father’s footsteps, continued a family tradition that is still carried on today.
During high school he met his future wife, Sandra Sanders, from Morgantown, W.Va. while she summered and worked on Pemaquid Point. They were married in 1962. They welcomed son, Mark, and daughters, Leslie and Susan, as their family grew.
Dan began his teaching career at Gardiner Area High School, teaching science while also lobstering some nights and weekends. He eventually began teaching science at Lincoln Academy to be closer to home and the ocean. After a few years, he gave up teaching to become a full-time lobsterman. In the early ‘80s he acquired and began rebuilding a rundown lobster pound on John’s River in Pemaquid Harbor.
He ran the Riverview Lobster Pound for the next 40 years, hauling traps to fill the pound and then managing, feeding, and recapturing the lobsters for sale when he felt the market was right.
Dan enjoyed being on the water sport fishing and had fun chasing tuna around the waters of Maine and Massachusetts. He also had a great love for freshwater fishing around the state of Maine, particularly at his camp on Big Lake in Princeton. He enjoyed his adventures bone fishing and bare boating with friends and family in the Caribbean during the 80s.
For years Dan was involved with many close lifelong friends on deer hunting trips, snowmobiling excursions, ice fishing, and other shenanigans at Camp Paradise in Eustis, where great memories were made. Over the past few years he particularly enjoyed bird hunting with his two beloved bird dogs, Gretchen and Coco.
He was a past member of the Bristol Area Lions Club, where he served as King Lion for a short time. He was president of the Pemaquid Fisherman’s Cooperative for many years, and a contributing member of the Maine Lobster Pound Owner’s Association. He also helped with Boy Scout trips when Mark was young.
Dan will be missed by his wife, Sandra, of 60 years; son, Mark and his wife, Cynthia; daughters, Leslie Bolster and Susan Cheney. He also leaves his grandchildren, Brooke Cheney, Chad Bolster, Katherine Abbott and her husband, Gregory, Tyler Cheney, Matthew Bolster; and one great-grandchild, Owen Gregory Abbott. He is also survived by his brother, Dr. Prescott “Mike” Cheney; and sisters, Avis Ingalls and Anne Clayton. He was predeceased by his parents; his brother, Alan Cheney; and son-in-law, Gregory Bolster. Dan will be remembered for the sparkle in his eyes, his impish grin, and his witty, fun spirit.
A memorial gathering of family and friends will be held at 67 Riverview Road, Pemaquid (at the lobster pound) on Sunday, July 9 from 1-4 p.m.
Donations in Dan’s memory may be made to the Bristol First Responders, P.O. Box 137, New Harbor, ME 04554,
Arrangements by Direct Cremation of Maine in Belfast.
