Edmund L. “Ed” Hildreth, 80, a lifelong resident of Winchester, passed peacefully after a brief period of declining health surrounded by the love of his family on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at Genesis Keene Center.
He was born to the late Catherine (Roy) and Franklin Hildreth, in Winchester, NH on June 15, 1942.
After high school, he enlisted in the United States Army and received an honorable discharge.
On October 29, 1960, Ed exchanged vows with the love of his life, Barbara A. Strange. They were married for 62 years.
He and Barb raced snowmobiles and Volkswagen’s in Winchester for many years. Ed began pulling ponies in the 1960s and then draft horses in the ’70s & ’80s. He went to horse pulls in NH, VT and MA. He also enjoyed logging with horses and was self-employed most of his life.
Ed loved watching his children and grandchildren playing sports and enjoyed the stories and pictures of his 11 great-grandchildren. Later in life Ed and Barb would take their daily rides looking for wildlife around the back roads of town.
Ed Hildreth is survived by his lovely wife of 62 years, Barbara and their 2 children, Dee (Hildreth) and her husband Ray Rex III, of Hadley, MA, Patrick Hildreth and his wife Debbie (Hinton) of Winchester; his sister, Jean and her husband Frank Pelkey of Winchester. He is also survived by his four grandchildren Stacey and Dan Dameron of Plainfield, NH; Lindsey Hildreth of Winchester, NH, Raymond and Alison Rex IV and Joseph and Erin Rex of Hadley, MA and his 11 great-grandchildren: Ryder and Levi Dameron of Plainfield, NH; Henry, Emmett, Benjamin and Kathryn Merriman (Hildreth) of Winchester, NH and Christopher, Raymond V and Ava Rex of Hadley, MA and Dorothy and Charlotte Rex of Hadley, MA and his nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister Frances Fosdick, his brother Clyde Hildreth and his grandson, Jason Hildreth.
Donations in Ed’s memory can be made to the: Eastern Draft Horse Association, 738 East Side River Road, Milan, NH 03588. All services will be private as Ed had requested. All arrangements were handled by Cheshire Family Funeral Home and Crematories, 46 S. Winchester St. Swanzey, NH. 03446. www.cheshirefamilyfh.com.
