Remembering Mainers who died in 2006

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AUGUSTA – Three centenarians, including one who may have been the state’s oldest resident, were among the notable Mainers who died in 2006. The year also saw the passing of Mount Desert resident Caspar Weinberger, who was a former Reagan Cabinet member, as well as several media figures and former public officials.

Pearl M. Hamlin died Jan. 22, less than a month before she would have turned 109. Born on Feb. 14, 1897, weeks before William McKinley succeeded Grover Cleveland as president, Hamlin was believed to have been Maine’s oldest resident. Hamlin was in good shape physically and mentally almost to the time of her death at a Dover-Foxcroft nursing home.

Other centenarians to die in 2006 included Helen M. Bouley, 106, of Auburn and construction company founder Herbert E. Sargent, 100.

Some of the other well-known or accomplished Mainers whose lives ended during the past year include opera director Sarah Caldwell, author Elisabeth Ogilvie and Medal of Honor recipient Edward Dahlgren.

January

Stanley R. Tupper of Boothbay Harbor, who represented Maine in Congress from 1961 to 1967 and served in other local, state and federal posts, Jan. 6 at age 84. Tupper served in the Maine Legislature in 1953-54, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and later returned to Maine where he shared a law practice with his wife.

James Horan, 70, a longtime faculty member at the University of Maine, Jan. 8 in Lewiston. A professor at UMaine since 1965, Horan also served in various administrative roles on the Orono campus.

Mabel Wadsworth, 95, a pioneer in the advancement of women’s health care in Maine, Jan. 11. A women’s health care center in Bangor is named in her honor. Wadsworth served as the first president of the Maine Family Planning Association.

Phil Soule, 64, of Brunswick, a longtime coach at Bowdoin College, Jan. 15. Soule played football at the UMaine and after graduation, taught at Fryeburg Academy before joining the Bowdoin coaching staff in 1967. He had been a national champion canoe racer and ultramarathoner.

Paul Baldacci, 48, younger brother of Gov. John Baldacci, who operated the family’s restaurant in Bangor, on Jan. 26.

February

Lucien “Babe” Dutremble, 83, of Biddeford, who served as mayor, city councilor, state representative and county commissioner during a political career that spanned six decades, Feb. 7 at his home.

Larry Mahaney, 76, Bangor philanthropist and former board chairman of Webber Energy Fuels who was known for his support of college baseball programs in Maine, Feb. 12 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Sports facilities at the UMaine, St. Joseph’s College and Thomas College are named for him.

Former four-term state Rep. Jane Saxl of Bangor, 66, Feb. 14. She was instrumental in passage of landmark health care legislation.

Verner Reed, 82, of Falmouth, a self-taught photographer whose pictures for Life magazine illustrated some of the major New England news events of the 1950s, Feb. 28 at his home.

March

Nikolas Emerson, 11, who as a toddler was at the center of a prolonged legal battle over treatment of the virus that causes AIDS, March 2 at his home outside Bangor. Emerson’s case drew international attention when the Maine supreme court ruled in 1998 that the state could not force his mother to treat him aggressively with powerful AIDS drugs.

Joanne Jordan Van Namee, 82, for 35 years a key figure at the family-owned Bangor Daily News, March 8. She was the granddaughter of J. Norman Towle, who founded the newspaper in 1895.

Sarah Caldwell, hailed as the first lady of opera for her adventurous productions as longtime director of the Opera Company of Boston, March 23. Caldwell, who lived in Freeport, staged and conducted some 100 operas, ranging from baroque to avant-garde.

Caspar W. Weinberger, 88, President Richard Nixon’s budget director who later served as President Ronald Reagan’s defense secretary, in Bangor on March 28. He lived in Mount Desert.

Bruce McGorrill, 74, who climbed the ladder from announcer at WCSH-TV to chief executive of Maine Broadcasting Systems, March 28 in Portland. The Bowdoin College graduate moonlighted as a public speaker and Down East humorist.

Carlton “Bill” Spencer, 63, a founding member of Maine’s first chapter of the Hell’s Angels Motorcycle Club, March 28.

April

Constance Hunting, poet, publisher and longtime teacher of creative writing at the University of Maine, April 5 at age 80 in Bangor.

Herbert E. Sargent, a college dropout who founded the H.E. Sargent Construction Co. in the 1920s and saw it develop into a business with annual sales of up to $100 million, April 9 at age 100 in Stillwater.

Brian Thayer, 57, a former executive at newspapers in Maine and Connecticut who switched careers to head a Sanford lumber company, April 9.

Paul A. MacDonald, 94, of Woolwich, a former Maine District Court judge and secretary of state, April 27.

May

Dick Johnson, 69, for nearly 40 years a radio anchor and reporter at WGAN AM in Portland and member of the Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, May 3.

James P. Archibald, 94, a Houlton native whose nearly half-century as a Maine judge included service on the state supreme court bench, May 28.

Edward Dahlgren, 90, a World War II veteran who received the Medal of Honor for spearheading the rescue of a platoon of fellow soldiers that was surrounded during a German counterattack, May 31 in Caribou.

June

Charlene Rydell, 64, a longtime former legislator and congressional health policy adviser, June 8.

Eugene Mawhinney, 84, a former University of Maine political science professor and adviser to hundreds of students during his three decades at the Orono campus, during the weekend of June 24-25 in Bangor.

July

Sister Mary Anna DiGiacomo, 83, a nun who was seriously injured in an attack at Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament convent in Waterville that killed two other nuns, July 20.

Margery Eliscu, 81, “Coffee Break” columnist for the Maine Sunday Telegram for 23 years, July 27.

August

Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr., 82, Maine-born former owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, Aug. 3 near Philadelphia.

Ilse Westman of Readfield, 92, philanthropist widow of prominent psychologist Heinz Westman, on Aug. 19.

September

Francis Sleeper, 79, a business reporter for the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram and Evening Express for nearly four decades, Sept. 8 in Portland.

Elisabeth Ogilvie, 89, author of 46 books who was best known for her colorful portrayals of Maine coastal and island life, Sept. 9 at her home in Cushing.

Richard Woodbury, 91, retired editor of the Portland Press Herald, Evening Express and Maine Sunday Telegram, Sept. 12.

Mary Goranites, 92, aunt of Sen. Olympia Snowe who raised her orphaned niece along with five children of her own, Sept. 23 in Lewiston.

Eddie Driscoll, 81, longtime Maine television personality who was inducted into the Maine Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1996, Sept. 23.

November

Helen M. Bouley, who was a girl when the Wright brothers took flight and the first Model T left the assembly line, at 106 in Auburn. Bouley, the daughter of a Civil War veteran, was born in 1900 in South Portland. She died Nov. 2 at a nursing home in Auburn.

Clayton LaVerdiere, 85, reporter, columnist and editor for the Morning Sentinel for 50 years, Nov. 2.

David Redmond, 74, a coach, teacher and school administrator in Biddeford who was an aide and to former Gov. Joseph Brennan, Nov. 25.

December

Mike Landry, 58, longtime Biddeford football coach, Dec. 12.

Erwin Wales of Buxton, 75, who created a charitable foundation with his wife after winning a $41.1 million lottery jackpot in 2001, Dec. 13.

Mary Forni, 91, of Hancock, who spotted two Nazi spies who arrived by U-boat along the Maine coast during World War II, Dec. 16.