Herbert S. May, Jr, 95
Holden – Herbert S. May, Jr, of 51 Plymouth Road, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 19, at home after a long illness. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, JoAnn (Milburn) May; his children, S. Judson May of Plano, TX, James M. May of Mililani, HI and Nancy (May) Cote of Holden; his grandchildren, Sarah R. May of Mililani, HI, Alethea May Cote of Holden, Laura E. May and S. John May of Plano, TX; and his great granddaughter, Kyla R. Moody of Allen, TX. He also leaves a niece, Elizabeth C. Agle of Washington, D.C. and a nephew, Roger B. Clapp of Bryson City, N.C. He was pre-deceased by his sister, Mary M. (Clapp) Artamonoff and a grandson, Samuel Justin May.
He was the son of Herbert S. and Ella (Burnham) May and was born in New York City. Herbert grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, N.Y. and graduated from the Choate School in Wallingford, CT in 1934. In 1938 he graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. May was as a member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
Herbert served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. From 1941 to1942 he worked as a Senior Engineer Design Draftsman at Aberdeen Proving Ground (Maryland), re-designing the shell-resistant armament and the revolving gun turret on the Mark II (Sherman) Tank. As WWII progressed, Herbert was called to active duty as an Ordinance officer (1943 to1945). Near the end of WWII, he was re-assigned to the Pacific Theater and served as an Ordinance officer with the 555th Air Service Group on Iwo Jima and later served in Saipan.
From1946 until his retirement in 1981, Mr. May worked as a mechanical engineer and administrator of the Stress Analysis Department for Riley Stoker Corporation in Worcester. He was a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Massachusetts. Herbert was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Worcester Engineering Society. He was also an active member of the Boston Chapter of the Society for Experimental Stress Analysis.
Herbert was a member of the Leicester Historical Society, and attended the Leicester Federated Church. Mr. May was also a 5th generation Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum. He was a past Lt. Commander in the Worcester Chapter of the U. S. Power Squadrons and also served as an assistant instructor in their Advanced Piloting courses.
In 1946, Herbert and his wife, JoAnn, moved to the family homestead of his great grandfather, the prominent abolitionist Rev. Samuel May of Leicester. (Rev. May served as the first minister of the Leicester Unitarian Church from 1834 to 1846, and later as the General Agent of the Massachusetts Antislavery Society from 1847 to 1865.) The family moved to Holden in 1954, where the family attended the First Baptist Church of Holden.
Mr. May had a life-long love of sailing and enjoyed cruising the coastal waters of southern New England and Long Island Sound in his sailboat with his family and friends. He was a former member of the Bristol Yacht Club, Narragansett Bay. Herbert was an avid reader with a strong interest in history, family genealogy as well as the musical and sports activities of his family.
A memorial service is scheduled at the First Congregational Church of Leicester on Saturday, February 27 at 10:30am. A private burial service will be held at the Pine Grove Cemetery. There are no calling hours. Morrison Funeral Home, 1131 Main St., Leicester, is assisting the family with arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Organ Fund of First Congregational Church of Leicester (P O Box 122, Leicester, MA 01524) or to the Leicester Unitarian Church (P O Box 342, Rochdale, MA 01542). The family would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the staff of UMASS Memorial Hospice and to all of Herbert’s caregivers. Their outstanding support and care has been a great comfort to the family.