BANGOR – Carl Edward “Buck” Buchanan, former Maine State Police detective and private investigator, was remembered as a tenacious worker at a memorial service Wednesday.

Buchanan, 77, died unexpectedly on Saturday in Millinocket. Rev. Robert Carlson, chaplain of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department, officiated at the service held at the Brookings-Smith Funeral Home.

He remembered Buchanan as a “fun-loving guy” who garnered respect from everyone he worked with.

In his professional career with the Maine State Police, he was a “workaholic,” said Carlson in a phone interview on Wednesday. “When he put his teeth into a case, he was like a pit bull. He wouldn’t let go until it was solved.”

After he retired from the State Police in 1975 with the rank of detective sergeant, he opened a private investigative firm: Carl E. Buchanan and Associates which he ran for 30 years.

“He was just masterful,” said Carlson. “He had the respect of all the law firms in the area.”

“He was colorful,” Carlson added. “I had to remind him that God’s last name was not damn and Jesus did not have a middle initial.”

Both during the service and on the phone, Carlson recognized the personal characteristics that set Buchanan apart.

“He is truly part of a group of people who are the end of an era,” said Carlson. He explained that Buchanan was honest and straight-forward. “You always knew where you stood with him.”