GRAFTON: Marshall (“Whitey”) W. Atchue of Grafton passed away on February 23, 2 days before his 95th birthday. He leaves his wife of 67 years, Marilyn (“Peg”) (Mainville) Atchue. He also leaves a daughter, Sally Atchue and her partner Don Clark of Adams Center, NY, his son Mark and his wife Nancy of Grafton, his grandchildren, Jonathan Atchue and his fiancé Shannon Chambers of Millbury and Katherine Atchue of Shrewsbury. He also leaves his sister, Theresa, and her husband John Arnold of The Villages Florida, his brother, Joseph Atchue of Grafton, his sisters-in-law Marion Aikey of Rentz Ga., Jeanne Noyes of Cape Neddick Me., Vicki Vandersluis of Uxbridge, and Alice Atchue of Grafton and several nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brothers Philip and Milton (“Doc”) Atchue.
Born in North Grafton to Israel and Eveline (Crouse) Atchue, he lived his entire life in Grafton, growing up on Ray Street among generations of Atchues. He attended Grafton public schools, earning his GED in the US Army where he served from 1946-47 and 1950-52. He worked for 28 years for Granger Contracting and 10 years for Dauphinais Concrete. He was so proud of the contribution his construction work brought to the Worcester area including several buildings on the campuses of Holy Cross and Assumption College and the original Lincoln Plaza. No one got more joy out of pouring concrete than Marshall.
Marshall was a very active member of St Philip’s church, serving in many capacities including Religious Education teacher, Finance Committee, the building committee for the current church, and being one of the few who knew how to roll back the pews.
After his retirement, Marshall was never idle. He delivered Meals-on-Wheels for 16 years, worked tirelessly caring for Sally’s horses at Quick Farms in Westboro, continued his father-in-law’s business of handcrafting paddles for pizza shops, and oversaw the general state of the property at St Philip’s. He enjoyed several winters in Ocala, Fla., always working on improvements to Sally & Don’s property. He also took on his most important job as Grampy to Jonathan and Katherine. In that role, he did 100s of pickups at Silver Spruce Montessori School and the Browns Road bus stop. He taught Jonathan to be the builder he is today and Katherine the fine art of napping. They are forever influenced by his incomparable work ethic.
The family would like to thank the staff on the Fairbanks Neighborhood at Beaumont in Westboro for their thoughtful and loving care of Marshall.
His funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday March 4th at 11:00 am at Our Lady of Hope at St Philip’s Church 12 West Street, Grafton with burial immediately following at Pine Grove Cemetery. There Marshall will be laid to rest beside his parents.

Donations in Marshall’s memory may be made to Our Lady of Hope Parish 17 Waterville Street North Grafton, MA 01536.