"Anthony Chelkonas, 85, of Granby, Massachusetts, passed away on Thursday, August 14, 2014 He was the husband of Margaret (Bartlett) Chelkonas who died in 2004 after 50 years of marriage. Tony was born on December 10, 1928 in Springfield, Massachusetts to the late Boniface and Mary (Driskas) Chelkonas. Tony graduated from Springfield Trade School and then served in the United States Navy from 1955-1957 as a machinist mate on DDR831 Goodrich. He went on to work at Parmenter Auto Parts and the Friendly Ice Cream Corporation in Wilbraham, where he was the garage foreman until retirement. He served as a Eucharistic Minister at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Springfield where he distributed communion at mass, at area nursing homes and to the homebound. After to moving to Granby in 1991, he was a communicant of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. He was an avid pigeon fancier with hundreds of homing pigeons. He raced his pigeons as a member of the Central Massachusetts Pigeon Club. Tony was a loving father of: Karen Ingraham of Taylorsville, Utah, Michael Chelkonas and his wife Sherrilynn of Springfield, and Mary-Lyn Alonzo and her husband Glenn of Simsbury, Connecticut. He leaves his cherished granddaughters: Melissa Ingraham, and Elizabeth, Emily, Megan, and Kelsey Alonzo. He also leaves three caring sisters-in-law: Betty Jekot of Belchertown, Mary Jean Hancock of Boca Raton, Florida, and Linda Connery, of Springfield, and several nieces and nephews. The calling hours will be Monday, August 18, 2014, from 4-7pm at Beers and Story Funeral Home in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Family and friends may gather at the Funeral Home on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 at 9:00am to follow to A Mass of Christian Burial at 10am at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Granby, Massachusetts. Burial will follow in St. Michael's Cemetery in Springfield. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Tony's memory to Holyoke Medical Center, c/o Valley Health Systems, 20 Hospital Drive, Holyoke, MA 01040. For more information, please visit www.beersandstory.com "