Bangor mourns loss of G. Peirce Webber Philanthropist’s generous spirit recalled

BANGOR – During his funeral service Saturday, businessman and philanthropist G. Peirce Webber was recalled as an astute financier, a loving grandfather, a genuine friend to many and a loyal patron to area civic groups.

About 250 people gathered at All Souls Congregational Church in Bangor to honor the life, work and generosity of Webber, who died at his home Dec. 4 at the age of 91.

Lawyers, brokers and Bangor’s new mayor, Michael Crowley, were among those attending an hour-long service that was marked by humor and deep emotion. Also attending was Eastern Maine Healthcare CEO Norman Ledwin, leader of a medical complex where one of the buildings is named after Webber and his deceased wife, Florence Webber.

A closed coffin rested at the front of the majestic chapel where stained-glass windows rise floor to ceiling behind the altar. Two pews were filled with relatives, and the remaining pews were filled to near capacity with friends of a man who built on his family’s timberland fortune through shrewd investing, then gave a substantial portion of his money to deserving civic, religious and social organizations.

The Rev. Dr. James Haddix, pastor of All Souls, himself grieving the loss of a friend and devoted parishioner, led the participants through a service punctuated with anecdotes and memories of Webber’s honorable life.

Webber’s grandson Stephen Spetnagel of Atlanta, Ga., recalled the life lessons Webber taught him. He said his grandfather’s influence was best summed up by a reaction registered by Webber’s great-grandson, Ryan Spetnagel, age 6. When told of Webber’s death, the boy wanted to know why the flags were not flying at half-staff in Atlanta, where he lives, because “My great-grandfather was a great person.” Stephen Spetnagel, the boy’s father, said he told him, “That’s OK. The flags are at half-mast in our hearts.”

Spetnagel expanded the analogy to the Bangor area where “flags are at half-mast in a lot of people’s hearts.” Spetnagel acknowledged the deep affection many felt for his grandfather and how that feeling was returned.

Webber “loved the YMCA, Husson College, the Boy Scouts, his church, the Little League, the Rotary and EMMC,” Stephen Spetnagel said.

Webber backed up his affection by serving on the board of the area’s largest institutions. At various times, he was president of the University of Maine Foundation, the United Way of Penobscot Valley – now called the United Way of Eastern Maine – and the Bangor-Brewer TB and Health Association. He also was chairman of the Good Samaritan Home’s board of trustees, the YMCA foundation, and trustee of his church where he also worked on the investment advisory committee. Boards sought him out because his name added credibility to any leadership effort. Once a Bangor city councilor, Webber also served in the Legislature. He received many honors and tributes in recognition of his community service.

Touching memories of Webber came from his lifelong friend Charles Bragg II. The pair first met in kindergarten, and their friendship grew as they shared common experiences. Webber and his brother, Charles Webber, attended Phillips Exeter Academy, as did Bragg. “Peirce was captain of the tennis team and Charlie [Webber] was captain of the golf team at Phillips Exeter,” Bragg recalled. Bragg spoke of his and Webber’s post-college trip to Florida in 1935 in Bragg’s Ford roadster. The pair stopped in Boston on the way home, a fateful move because Bragg called a female graduate student in Boston who later became Webber’s wife. At the time, Bragg asked Florence “Flossie” Pitts to go to a tea dance at the Copley Plaza. The dance date became fodder for years of good-humored kidding for him, Webber and his wife, Bragg recalled.

Bragg said Webber broke with family tradition by investing some of his inherited wealth in stocks rather than bonds. By doing so he increased the family’s wealth substantially.

In a calm voice, Bragg, also 91, spoke of Webber being competitive but not one to win by “bending the rules.”

“He had a rare gift of relating … he had a heart as big as his purse,” Bragg said.

“I never heard him raise his voice in anger. … This was the man we lost. It will be a long time before we see his equal,” Bragg said.

Haddix recalled meeting Webber at a time when Flossie Webber was gravely ill, and her husband was caring for her. “He loved his wife completely. He cared for her in all ways,” Haddix recalled. When Haddix came to Webber’s Bangor home, he was told Webber would return to church at some point. “On the Sunday after Mrs. Webber’s [funeral] services, he was back at worship. He was a man of his word,” Haddix said.

The pastor spoke of a dedication ceremony last summer when a YMCA camp in Hampden was renamed Camp Peirce Webber.

Webber’s grandchildren attended, as did Bragg. Images of the future and the past were present in the room, a phenomenon that made him smile, Haddix recalled.

“I am sorry there is a generation coming that will not know Peirce Webber,” Haddix said.

On the day Webber died, the stock market rallied. “People at Paine-Webber said it was Peirce waving goodbye,” Haddix said.