OBITUARIES for Thursday, July 17, 2025

MERLE L. FRENCH

SOMERVILLE – Merle L. French, 87, of Somerville, passed away peacefully on Monday, June 30, 2025. Born April 30, 1938, Merle was a U.S. Army veteran, logger, union laborer, and long-haul trucker. A devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he was known for his strength, generosity, and love of family and community. He was a member of the Somerville Church of God, American Legion Post #205, Augusta, and was a Somerville Fire Department volunteer.

Merle is survived by his wife Mary; eight children; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and his two sisters.

A celebration of life was held on July 12 at the Somerville Elementary School.

COURTNEY S. BLOOD

BENTON – Courtney S. Blood, 76, passed away on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Courtney was born in Waterville, on May 18, 1949, the son of Aretta Blood.

He attended Waterville schools and graduated from Waterville High School, class of 1967.

Courtney was a jack of all trades working construction hanging sheetrock. He then moved on to have a long successful career in real estate for 40 years, becoming a co-owner/broker of Century 21 Surette Real Estate, in Waterville, where he was beloved by his associates who he considered his work family.

Courtney also volunteered much of his time and energy by being on different real estate boards and was involved with hospice.

He leaves behind his wife of 55 years Donna; two sons Don and Aaron; daughter Teagan; grandson Nick; and great-grandchildren Cadence and Logan.

He was predeceased by his mother Aretta, brother Don, sister Cherald and great-grandson Evan.

There will be no public viewing. Private services will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers please donate to a charity of your choice.

BETTY SHUCKROW

WINSLOW – Betty Shuckrow, 92, of Winslow, died peacefully on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, at Oak Grove Center, in Waterville. She was born on September 23, 1932, in Albion, to Hugh and Louise (Stratton) Sylvester.

She attended schools in Albion and graduated from Besse High School, in Albion, in 1950. She married Lee T. Shuckrow on July 2, 1960.

She worked at New England Telephone for 10 years. When her children were young, she babysat children in her home. Later in life, she worked at McDonald’s for 15 years.

Betty enjoyed going to dances at the Fox Den and Melody Ranch, both in Fairfield. Later her friend Alice would pick her up and they would go to the dance in Augusta.

Betty was predeceased by her parents, her husband Lee in 1991, daughter Lisa Cassidy in 1998, brother Jack Sylvester in 2022, sister-in-law Virginia Sylvester in 2016, brothers-in-law John Smiley in 2007 and Mike Passaic in 1997.

She is survived by her sons Lee J. Shuckrow and his wife Debbie, and Michael Shuckrow; grandsons, Lee T. and Nickolas Shuckrow with wife Sarah and James Cassidy with wife Robyn, Thomas Cassidy with wife Kath, and Johnathan Cassidy; and great-granddaughter Ivy Cassidy; sister Alene Smiley; brother Robert Sylvester; sisters-in-law Ann Sylvester and Carol Passaic; brother-in-law Alan Shuckrow; and many nieces and nephews.

A graveside service will be held on Thursday, July 17, at 10 a.m., at the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, 143 Blue Star Avenue, Augusta.

Arrangements are under the direction and care of Gallant Funeral Home, 10 Elm Street, Waterville. An online guestbook may be signed; condolences and memories shared at http://www.gallantfh.com.

ROBERT C. HARVEY

WHITEFIELD – Robert C. Harvey, 71, a resident of Whitefield, passed away on Saturday, July 5, 2025, at the Alfond Center for Health, in Augusta. He was born on January 25, 1954, in Gardiner.

Robert leaves a legacy of leadership and love for the community that he served so honorably. A natural entrepreneur, Robert was the proud owner and operator of Precision Cycles, in Whitefield, where his impeccable workmanship and genuine care for his customers earned him much respect and admiration.

Robert was known for his robust spirit and kind heart. He lived his life with great enthusiasm and was always ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. He was a father figure to many in the community, and his wisdom and guidance will be greatly missed. Through his work, his love for cycling, and his passion for life, Robert touched the lives of many, leaving an indelible mark that will continue to inspire those who knew him.

Robert is survived by his two daughters, Angela Crabtree and Melissa Boyd.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Malcolm and Grace (Carver) Harvey and his son James Harvey.

There will be no services at this time.

We invite all who knew Robert to share their memories and photos on his memorial page at http://www.staplesfuneralhome.com Your stories and pictures will serve as a comfort and a reminder of the wonderful man that Robert was.

Arrangements and guidance are in the care of Staples Funeral Home and Cremation Care, 53 Brunswick Avenue, Gardiner, Maine.

RAYMOND J. VIGUE

BENTON – Raymond Joseph Vigue, 81, of Benton, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 6, 2025.

Raymond was a devoted husband, father, and Pépère. He was known for his kindness and his love for gardening, fishing, and cooking.

Raymond is survived by his wife, Linda Vigue; daughters Rayanne, Ramie, and Jamie; stepdaughters Tina and Lisa; his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; his brothers Bobby, Norman, Armand, and David; his sisters, Annette, Nancy, and Rosemarie.

Raymond was predeceased by his parents Valaire and Jeanette Vigue; twin sister Lorraine; sister Maryanne, and brother Freddy.

There will be no services held at this time.

JOHN O. BEARCE

WINSLOW – John O. Bearce, 61, passed away on Sunday, July 6, 2025, in Augusta. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Tuesday, July 15, at Notre Dame Catholic Church, 116 Silver St., Waterville. To read John’s full obituary please visit http://www.gallantfh.com.

Others Departed

JEAN C. MORRISSETTE

WINSLOW/ WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina – Jean C. Morrissette, 78, passed away on Thursday, March 27, 2025. Jean was born at the Sisters’ Hospital, in Waterville, on July 5, 1946, the oldest child of William S. and Anita Gagnon Morrissette.

She graduated from Immaculate Heart of Mary School, in Fairfield, and then went on to graduate from Lawrence High School, in Fairfield.

She moved from Maine to North Carolina in 2023 to be with her family and resided at Heritage Woods independent care facility, in Winston-Salem.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Saturday, July 12, at 11 a.m., at Notre Dame Catholic Church, at 116 Silver Street, Waterville. Arrangements will be forthcoming and interment followed at Saint Francis Cemetery, in Waterville.

Services are under the care of Veilleux-Redington-Lawry Brothers, 8 Elm Street, Waterville. An online guestbook may be signed and memories shared at http://www.vrlfuneralhome.com.

Jean requests that donations be made to Corpus Christi Parish, 17 South Garand St., Winslow, Maine 04901 or to the Associates Appreciation Fund, Heritage Woods, 3812 Forrestgate Drive, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103-2972.

ALBERTA M. STEVENS

BELGRADE – Alberta M. Stevens, 88, of North Belgrade, passed away peacefully at Lakewood Manor, in Waterville, on Monday, June 23, 2025. Alberta was born in Augusta on November 27, 1936. She was the daughter of Reginald Shaw and Bertha Richardson Shaw.

She married Edward J. Stevens, Sr., in 1956 and moved to North Belgrade where they bought a home and raised six children.

She was predeceased by Edward Stevens, Sr., her parents, sisters Ada Norris and Linda Shaw, her brother, Glenwood Shaw, and her daughter-in-law, Brenda Stevens.

Alberta is survived by her children, Edward Stevens, Jr. and his wife Leanne, of Fairfield, David Stevens and his wife Kathy, of North Belgrade, Janet Stevens, of Oakland, Sandra Stevens, of North Belgrade, Jolene Belserene and her husband Mark, of Belgrade, and Paul Stevens, of North Belgrade; 12 grandchildren, Lindsay Melisurgo and her husband Daniel, Heather Bresett and her husband Joshua, Matthew Stevens and his wife Carla, Jason Stevens and his wife Heather, Tasha Gradie and her husband James, Jamie Rivard and her husband Derek, Sarah Butler and her husband Jarrett, Rebecca Fotter and her partner Patrick Powell, Brandy Bernatchez, Louis “Buddy” Belserene, Mark Belserene, Jr., and Joshua Stevens; 25 great-grandchildren; and six great-great grandchildren; her sister, Sandra Sturgeon and her husband Robert, of Windham; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Graveside service will be held Saturday, July 12, at 10:30 a.m., at Pine Grove Cemeter,y in Belgrade.

HARVEY M. BUJOLD

MOSELEY, Virginia – Harvey M. Bujold, 85, passed away on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, following suffering for many years with a rare lung disease. He was born on December 26, 1939, in Maria, Canada, to parents Leonard and Eveline Bujold, and was the second youngest of eight children.

His family moved to Waterville in 1943. He attended St. Francis de Sales Parochial School and graduated from Coburn Classical Institute college preparatory school, in Waterville, in 1958. He worked for a year then attended and graduated from Thomas College, in Waterville, in 1961 with a Business/Accounting Degree.

He was drafted into the U.S. Army in October of 1961, with basic training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, then he was assigned to the Personnel Department at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, where he served until October of 1963.

He met Rita Caron at Caron’s Roller Rink in Waterville and married her in August 1962. Upon discharge from the Army, they settled in Portland when he began working for Brown Construction as the Accountant, then became the President until his retirement in 1989. After a few years of living in Portland, the family moved to Cumberland, He and Rita relocated to Marco Island, Fla. for retirement until they moved to Bonita Springs in 1996, where he lived until the fall of 2024.

He is survived by his partner, Karen Nagle, of Moseley, Virginia.; daughter, Debbie (Steve) Lampron, of Windham; son, Kevin (Stephanie) Bujold, of Thurmont, Maryland.; five grandchildren, Danielle Lampron, Kristen (Sonny) May and Michael, Josephine and William Bujold; siblings, Noella Pelletier, Fern Bard and Sr. Rita Bujold; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Leonard and Eveline Bujold; his wife of 48 years, Rita; two infant children, Michelle Marie and Marc Daniel; siblings, Adrienne Desveaux, Sr. Dorothy Bujold, Leo Bujold and Paula Veilleux.

There will be a private burial ceremony at the Holy Cross Cemetery, in Yarmouth, where he will be buried by his wife Rita and their two infant children.

LINDA LaVERDIERE

WATERVILLE – Linda LaVerdiere, 79, of Waterville, passed peacefully on Monday May 19, 2025. She was born November 14, 1945, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the daughter of James and Dorothy LaChance.

After graduating from Waterville High School in 1964, she attended X-Ray technician school. She worked for many years at Thayer Hospital, in Waterville, assisting a surgeon, for Homecare Inc., and finishing her working years as a pharmacy technician at LaVerdiere’s Drug Store, in Waterville.

Her favorite pastimes included sharing time with her family on holidays, watching her children and grandchildren play sports, gardening and watching wildlife at her home on the Kennebec River. Also, the last 25 years had included many days of buying and selling items for her booth at the Fairfield Antique Mall.

She was predeceased by her sister, Joan.

Linda is survived by her husband of 53 years, Ronald LaVerdiere; her daughter, Staci and husband Dan; her son, Ryan and wife Monica; stepsons Bryant and wife Sheri, Steve and wife Carolyn; and her grandchildren, and families of Cameron, Declan, Hannah, Dexter, Davis, Eli, Angela, Jordan, Brandon, Alexis, Abigayle, Brayden, Tyler, Morgan, and Taylor.

A graveside service will be held at Pine Grove Cemetery, in Waterville, later this year.

Services are under the care of Veilleux-Redington-Lawry Brothers, 8 Elm St., Waterville. An online guestbook may be signed and memories shared at http://www.vrlfuneralhome.com.

WILLIAM F. REID JR.

SKOWHEGAN – William F. Reid Jr., 86, died on Monday, May 12, 2025, from heart disease. He was born in Paw­tucket, Rhode Island, on September 29, 1938, to William and Marion Reid.

An only child, Will grew up in the Old Town area of North Attleborough, Massachusetts. His love of nature began at a small pond behind his house, where he caught snakes, frogs, and turtles. He developed a lifelong affection for Maine during camping trips to Toddy Pond in the 1950s and then by attending Bowdoin College, where he earned a degree in Biology in 1960.

While at Bowdoin, he often spent weekends in Skowhegan at the house of college friend Dave Boyle, where he met his future wife, Margaret Laney. He spent an unforgettable fall hunting in Northern Maine, including the Lexington Highland Plantation near Bigelow Mountain, where he and friends camped in tents and horse hovels. One of his most memorable experiences was fishing and canoeing on Eagle Lake, in the Allagash, in May 1959 and 1960. At that time, the Allagash was still wild, requiring a long, rough drive over gravel roads to get there.

After college, he joined the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Wichita Falls, Texas, serving as an administrative officer for four years. During that time, he drove a white Chevy convertible. As soon as he could, Will returned to New England, managing a fish hatchery in Berlin, New Hampshire.

In 1967, he married Margaret Laney. By this time, he had traded his Chevrolet for a green Mustang. They moved to Old Town, while Will earned his M.A. from the University of Maine. They later bought a house in Orono and a used orange VW bus, with an underperforming defroster, to transport a family of four children, two cats, and two dogs.

Will earned his Ph.D. in Forest Resources (Wildlife) from the University of Maine in 1976. He became a leading expert on freshwater crayfish in Maine. He was the first Director of Environmental Services at the Maine Department of Transportation. Over 27 years, he worked to protect streams and rivers from road construction, installed turtle fences on I-95 and I-295 to prevent collisions, and ensured that municipal salt and sand piles were covered to mitigate harmful runoff.

In 1980, after the death of his father-in-law, Dr. Richard Laney, Will and his family relocated to Skowhegan to be closer to Margaret’s mother, Marion. That first fall in Skowhegan, he will be remembered standing, chainsaw in hand, atop a truck load of tree length firewood he had delivered to their front lawn, most likely a first for Coburn Avenue.

He spent summers at Lake Wesserunsett with his family, becoming one of the lake’s greatest environmental champions. As a pioneering citizen scientist, he initiated Lake Wesserunsett’s water quality testing program in 1982 and the lake’s annual Audubon loon count in 1983.

In 2002, he helped establish the DEP’s courtesy boat inspection program at the East Madison boat landing. He was instrumental in developing the Lake Wesserunsett Association’s watershed conservation plan, and he started the wetland protection work that LWA continues today. The first successful wetland conservation project, Reid-Lahti Wetlands Preserve, is jointly named in his honor. He was also active with the Somerset Woods Trustees, the oldest land trust in the state.

Will enjoyed playing recreational softball and volleyball, but he loved mountain biking and cross-country skiing. In his free time, he explored woods in Mayfield, Solon, and Bingham by bike and skis, usually with his loyal golden retriever, Duffy. He was fascinated by the history told by old cellar holes, stone walls, and other artifacts left by early settlers.

In addition to his distinguished career as an environmentalist, Will instilled in his children and grandchildren an appreciation of nature. He taught them about fish, frogs, turtles, birds, dragonflies, ferns, vernal pools, as well as native trees and flowering shrubs. He said that if one ever had trouble identifying a particular species of native shrub, it’s probably a viburnum. He was a dedicated, precise, and rigorous technician and a true scientist who could write a good sentence.

Will also will be remembered for his kindness, humor, and intelligence. He loved the Blues, had many strong feelings about the Red Sox, believed in equal rights, and saw funding libraries as an investment in the people of a community. He kept his Toyota Tacoma pickup truck together with bungee cords and duct tape longer than most would think possible, but he would have happily sacrificed his Nokia flip phone.

William is survived by his wife, Margaret; and their four children, Elizabeth Payne (Richard Brucher), of Orono, Kathryn Reid (Hugh Tozer), of Portland, Michael Reid (Uyen Bach), of Petersburg, Virginia, and Anne Reid (Todd Boyd), of Brookline, Massachusetts; six grandchildren, Margaret Reynolds, Genevieve Payne, Pablo Reid, Anna Reid, Benjamin Reid, and Phoebe Reid Boyd; one great-grandchild, Theodore Reynolds.

Please visit Will’s memorial page at https://svremembrancecenter.com/obituaries/william-reid-2025 where condolences, photos and special memories may be shared.

In place of flowers, donations may be made to Somerset Woods Trustees (https://www.somersetwoodstrustees.org), Lake Wesserunsett Association (https://www.wesserunsett.org/blackpoint )
Lake Stewards of Maine (https://www.lakestewardsofmaine.org).

Services

THERESA D. VIOLETTE

WATERVILLE – Theresa D. Violette passed away on February 6, 2025.

A Mass of Christian Burial is planned for Saturday, July 19, 2025, at St. Helena’s Church, in Belgrade Lakes (Route 27), at 11 a.m. Burial will directly follow at Pine Grove Cemetery (Route 135), in Belgrade. All family and friends are invited to the Violette camp (44 Pine Beach Rd., Belgrade) for a luncheon after the interment.