David Cheever

In his early years, David Cheever was an aspiring artist. He designed the city of Nashua Centennial Seal in 1953. In 1958, he began to pursue his interest in architecture by joining the firm of Carter & Woodruff, Architects. He earned his state of New Hampshire licensure in 1963 and national certification in 1968. His diligence helped develop Carter & Woodruff into a prominent architectural firm, winning prized commissions throughout the state, and in 1974 he became a partner.

Background

The shared legacy he leaves from work at this firm include Birch Hill and Main Dunstable schools, the Nashua Public Library, the Arts & Science Center (a reuse of the Central Fire Station), the Conant Road Fire Station and the state Department of Safety office building in Concord, among others.

In 1977, he opened his own practice in the reconditioned "boiler room" of his wife's greenhouse. From that restart through retirement last year, his legacy can be enumerated over 90 projects. Of particular interest, and among his proudest lifetime achievements, were his contributions to extend the usefulness of his father's buildings - this legacy includes City Hall, the Amherst and Old Lake Street fire stations, the Community Council Building, the Nashua Trust Building, the Statehouse Dome Restoration, the NHTI Campus and the Milford Town Hall.

Throughout his life, Cheever's enjoyment was rooted in the arts. In the beginning, it was expressed through drawing, pottery and carving. However, these were soon dwarfed by a passion for his blacksmith heritage. From the large metal flower he displayed on his front porch in the 1970s to the cannon that sits there now, those who knew his sculpture can bear witness to his ingenuity, technique and skill. His recent avocation was glassblowing.

His support for the art community began with his involvement with the Nashua Arts & Science Center in the 1960s. He served as trustee from 1976 to 1979 and was board president in 1979.

Cheever found a small piece of artistic "heaven on earth" at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Sunshine Isle, Maine. In 1973, he began his tenure as trustee on the Building and Grounds Committee and in recent years as honorable trustee. His passion for Haystack can best be described by how he spent his vacation time. He would use any opportunity to go help fix or build something at the school if it meant he could spend a few days there from time to time. At one point, he even bought a short take-off and landing airplane so he could land on the island. The school became his only vacation destination for more than 20 years. His best vacation was taken in the summer of 1980, when he and surrogate son, Jon Doolan, built the "Hotshop," bringing new life to metals and glass at the school.

He served in the Navy at the Naval Air Station at Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn, New York, and the Navy Construction Battalion Engineering Office in Pensacola, Florida.

Cheever was a 1953 graduate of Nashua High School with honors. He also attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on a Navy scholarship.