LANCASTER - Charles Reginald Zanes, age 78, passed away on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Reg was a recent resident of the Country Village Nursing Home, Lancaster, New Hampshire, but had had made his home in Lancaster, on Pleasant Street, for over fifty years.
Reg was born February 5, 1939, in Concord, New Hampshire, to Charles William Zanes and Evelyn Sherburne Zanes. His family had lived in the Lakes Region and the NH Seacoast area since the 1600's. World War II brought Reg's family north, first to Groveton and then Stratford, New Hampshire, where his father made his career in the paper industry.
A graduate of Groveton High School in 1957, Reg worked locally as a mechanic before entering military service in the US Army in 1962. Stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Reg was a diesel mechanic in the armored division. He returned to New Hampshire following his service and worked for many years as a skilled mechanic, with much of his career being in the Woodlands Division for the Groveton Paper Board. He then worked for Scrub Benoit until retiring in 2003.
Reg was married in 1964 to Patricia Connary of Lancaster. They made their home in Lancaster with their family until her death in 1991. In 1997, Reg married Anna Caouette of Groveton. They would have been married twenty years this August.
His friends and family knew Reg to be a talented craftsman who was happiest in his garage or in the woods - wherever he could tinker and whistle while he worked. He loved music, the outdoors, northern logging history, and restoring antique farming tractors.
Reg is survived by his wife, Anna, of Whitefield, NH; his children: Holly Zanes, of Burlington, VT; Travis Zanes, of Concord, NH; Trent Zanes, of Concord, NH; and Chad Zanes, of Lancaster, NH; and six grandchildren: Cole, Madeleine, and Charlotte Khamnei, of Burlington, VT; Elizabeth Zanes of Hopkinton, NH; Kaelyn Zanes of Concord, NH; and Julia Zanes of Lancaster, NH. He is survived by his brother, William Zanes, of North Stratford, NH. Reg is also survived by his stepchildren and their families, his cousins, nieces and a nephew.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, April 2, at 2:00 PM in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Lancaster, NH. Burial will be in the spring in Summer Street Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations are kindly suggested to the Lancaster Emergency Medical Service, 19 Mechanic St., Lancaster, NH 03584.