WORCESTER … Paul J. "Shag" Chagnon, 87, formerly of Whitinsville, died peacefully Tuesday, December 24, in the UMass Memorial Medical Center, University Campus. His wife, Judith (Rej) Chagnon, died in 2008. He is survived by a daughter, Denise Zecco, of Worcester, two step-daughters, Darlene Mikolaycik, and her husband, Tom, of Douglas, and Kathleen Oosterman, and her husband, Steve, of Northbridge; a granddaughter, Jennifer Zecco, and her fiancé, Christopher J. Huckins of Northborough; four step-grandchildren, Allyssa Lightbown, Ashley Lightbown, Sarah Bennett, and her husband, Brennan, and Courtney Oosterman; and seven great grandchildren. He was predeceased by brothers Richard, Roger and Norman Chagnon, and his sisters, Mildred LeBlanc and Claire Bouley.

Shag was born in Worcester, December 16, 1932, a son of Joseph and Rose (Dumont) Chagnon. He grew up in Worcester and attended Worcester schools, and lived in Whitinsville from 1987 until 2018. A United States Navy veteran of the Korean Conflict, he worked at Wyman-Gordon 47 years prior to retiring in 2000.

He was a member of Saint Patrick's Church in Whitinsville, the Whitin Community Center, and the Northbridge Senior Center and its cribbage league..

Funeral Services will be private. Donations in Shag's memory may be made to the Northbridge Senior Center, 20 Highland Street, Whitinsville, MA, 01588, or, the American Diabetes Association, 260 Cochitiuate Road, #200, Framingham, MA, 01701.