MILFORD – More than 800 people attended a memorial service for George Chappell on Saturday, something his son, Kent, said helped the family to accept his passing.

Chappell, 85, died Sept. 26 at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, surrounded by his family.

On Saturday, services were held in the Chappell barn near the family’s rolling pastures that are a local landmark. His family was surrounded by hundreds of people who cared about them and the family member they had lost.

“We had 800 chairs set up and we had to put up more,” Kent Chappell said in a telephone interview on Monday. “He did touch a lot of lives in business and in his personal life as well. He had a lot of friends.”

George Chappell had lived in Milford for 75 years and founded Chappell Tractor Sales, Inc. in Milford in 1955, the firm that is today run by his grandsons.

One who would like to be counted among his friends is Rick Holder, owner of Hampshire Hills Sports and Fitness Center in Milford, who attended Saturday’s service. He was “awestruck” at the number of people who attended with him and said it was “testimony to the respect people had for George.”

Holder said he had known Chappell as a neighbor since 1985 “and I never saw him without a smile.”

“Although he was a good businessman, he found it more important to be your friend,” Holder said. “Simply being in his presence, you felt a profound sense of goodness about being there. I can honestly say I will miss him dearly.”

Honesty was a key to the way people felt about his dad, said Kent Chappell.

“He was a straight shooter,” he said. “He tried to do business that way and in his personal life, he lived what he believed.”

The number of people who came to his service was, Kent Chappell said, a testament to his legacy.

“I felt like we were completely surrounded by people that cared,” Kent Chappell said of those who attended on Saturday. “He lived a long life and, of course, we’re sad to see him pass away, but he left a legacy of family that truly cares about people.

“We were sad, but we felt like those people that were there cared so much about him and all of us, that it took some of the sting out of his passing.”

Those feelings about the family were echoed by May Balsama, executive director of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce.

“I can only offer the greatest respect that I have for his family and the commitment that they have to the area. It is a legacy that would make any one of us very proud.”