A plaque in memory of William Altemus was dedicated on Nov. 22 at the Chick-fil-A restaurant tin Gloucester.

It was a special day, store owner John Gordon said, as the plaque, erected months earlier, was dedicated on the day when Altemus—a frequent customer—would have celebrated his 97th birthday.

“He had been and continues to be a part of our lives,” Gordon said of Altemus, who ate at the restaurant nearly every day for about five years until his death in November 2015.

“He was a man of God,” Gordon said, adding that Altemus always had a kind word for everyone and praised Christ and handed out crosses to everyone he met for several years.

Jerry Young, Altemus’s daughter, said that her father always asked people to “look at Christ” to be a central part of their lives. Altemus also arranged for 600 boxes of crosses be shipped to many foreign countries, Young said, noting that other residents are carrying on Altemus’s cross ...