BX January 29, 1981

He Visited Sick for 20 Years

Chester Greenwood, 85 who died Sunday, spent much of the last 20 years visiting the sick in local hospitals and nursing homes.

A special memorial service will be held tonight at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where he was member.  His body was donated to medical science.

Mr. Greenwood, a retired Massy-Ferguson employee, began vising the sick when he was appointed the official sick visitor for the Senior Citizens’ Day Centre on Charlotte Street.

He found he could not visit only one person in a room, so the number of his visits increased.

He went to the hospitals and the John Noble Home tree days a week, for about four hours at a time.  His son Rhuddlan, of 37 Albert Street, estimates that his father collected more than 12,000 names in his little black books that he kept.

Some people were worried about singing the book, but Mr. Greenwood’s only purpose was to remember the names so that he could ask bout them in the future, says his son.

Sometimes he would carry notes between spouses, when one was in hospital and the other in a nursing home.

Until about 1 ½ years ago, Mr. Greenwood made many of his visits by bicycle.  He gave up driving when he was about 70 years old.

Despite two heart attacks in the last four years, he continued his visits, although he stopped vising the Beverly Hill Lodge.

Harvey McCutcheon, administrator of the John Noble Home, said the home had other faithful visitors, but not many “as good as Chester was.”

He used to report each Friday on residents of the home who were in hospital.  The home held a surprise 60th anniversary party last spring for him and his wife Annie.

Mr. McCutcheon said he would be missed by both residents and staff.