CAMDEN — Christopher William Fahy, 86, died peacefully in his sleep on March 6 after a long, debilitating illness.

He was born on November 15, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Roxborough High. He went on to graduate from Temple University where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in speech therapy. He met the love of his life, Davene (Sernoff) Fahy, at Temple and they were married in January 1960 in Philadelphia.

Chris worked at Bancroft School in the late 1960s as their coordinator of clinical services. This introduced him to Maine through Bancroft’s summer camp in Owl’s Head. After a few years, the family moved to Tenants Harbor in 1972, buying a fixer-upper. Chris spent a great deal of time and energy completely renovating the house. In 1983, the family moved to Thomaston, where they renovated another house. He loved and appreciated old buildings and once bought paint and tools and voluntarily painted the Shawmont Railway station in Philadelphia out of respect for the beauty of that historic landmark.

From an early age, Chris was a passionate writer, and throughout his life spent every morning for hours at a time working on his craft. He published twenty-five books, including poetry collections, novels, short story collections and mass market fantasy and horror novels. His stories and poems appeared in many local and national anthologies. His book on house repair, Home Remedies, was published by Scribners. He is perhaps best known for his short stories exploring the conflict between native Mainers and those from away, such as “The Glow of Copper.” He treated his characters sympathetically and with care and good humor. Many of these works can be found in his book Limerock Maine Stories.

Chris proudly co-founded the Terry Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival, held each year since 2002 at the University of Maine at Augusta. Starting in 1997, Chris was a dedicated participant in the Tenants Harbor Summer Poetry Readings. He served on the Maine Arts Commission’s Literature Advisory Panel and on the board of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. In earlier years, he served actively on the board of the Tenants Harbor Library.

Chris won the Maine Arts Commission fiction competition for his collection of short stories One Day in the Short Happy Life of Anna Banana; the grand prize in the Atlanta Review’s International Poetry Competition; and the distinguished achievement award from the University of Maine at Augusta.

In his other work, Chris was a Maine state rehabilitation counselor for the blind and visually impaired for a dozen years, serving this population with care and respect.

He was a loving husband, father and grandfather. His generosity with time, energy and resources was greatly appreciated by his family, friends and coworkers. He attended many academic and sporting events in support of his children and grandchildren. As a lifelong sports fan, the Philadelphia Phillies baseball, and Temple Owls basketball teams were special favorites of his. Among his many interests, Chris, alongside Davene, greatly enjoyed gardening including lovely flower and vegetable gardens; peach, apple, pear and cherry trees; grape, blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry, patches. Chris and Davene did a lot of traveling throughout their long marriage, starting with their 1960 honeymoon trip to Europe on the SS United States. Daily walks in Thomaston were important to him, and early interests in stamps, trains, and butterflies stayed with him all his life.

His humor came across in a wry, subtle way when telling a good dinner party story, for instance. At other times, recognizing life’s absurdities, he could be goofy and silly – yet still poignant – and bring the house down. Introducing his boys to Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, and MAD magazine at an early age will always be appreciated.

Resiliency was another trait. He beat two serious bouts of cancer in the 1980s and 1990s.

Chris is survived by: his wife of sixty-four years, Davene (Sernoff) Fahy of Rockland; his son Greg Fahy and his wife, Deb of Hallowell; his son Ben Fahy and his partner Melanie Beckett of Rockland and Thomaston.

He is also survived by two grandsons: Connor Fahy and his partner Elaine Lee of San Jose, California, and William Fahy and his partner Jolie Miller of Toronto, Ontario. In addition, he is survived by his sister, Lani Dean of North Wales, Pennsylvania; and sisters-in-law Judie Fahy of Limerick, Pennsylvania and Harriett Dougherty of Madison, New Jersey; and many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents, William Fahy and Dorothy (Kitsch) Fahy of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his brother Mike Fahy of Limerick, Pennsylvania; his brothers-in-law Robert Dean of North Wales, Pennsylvania, John Dougherty of Madison, New Jersey, and Ed Sernoff of Ein Hod, Israel; and his granddaughter Annabel Fahy of Hallowell.

The family will make arrangements for a celebration of Chris’ life later this year. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his name to a library of your choice.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.

To share a memory or condolence with the Fahy family, please visit their Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.