FORT KENT – John Glenroy Sinclair, 86, died Oct. 31, 2006, in Fort Kent. He was born Sept. 7, 1920, in St. Francis, the son of John Roy Sinclair and Delia Savage Sinclair. The fourth of nine children, John left school when he was 16 to work in the woods to help support his family during the depression. He learned surveying from his father and joined the U.S. Corps of Engineers in 1940. When he joined the Navy after Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to an aerial mapping unit and was involved with surveying in Greenland, South America and Central America. John married Mary Jane Baker of St. Francis in 1944, and after the war they moved to St. Pamphile, where he became the district manager of the Pingree Heirs and the chief fire warden for Seven Islands District. In 1956, he moved his family to Bangor and became woodlands manager for the Pingree Heirs. When the Seven Islands Land Co. was formed in 1964, John became its first president and served until 1977, managing over a million acres of Maine timberland. John’s life is not reflected in his resume, but rather in his passion for the Maine woods and his love for the St. John River. In 1977, Colby College awarded John, who had no formal education beyond 10th grade, an honorary Doctor of Science. The citation accompanying the degree states: “Far beyond his technical mastery of forest principles and practice, he has recognized the ultimate values of the Maine woods, sought new techniques of cultivation and management, and developed markets here and abroad for Maine’s most important renewable natural resource. Mr. Sinclair is the driving force behind the North Maine Woods, a unique association of public and private landowners…the largest recreational preserve of its kind in the world. He was responsible for initiating the Maine High Adventure Program of the Boy Scouts of America. A logger and woodsman, his speech is salted with their idiom, and when in a hundred years the Maine woods are still our greatest natural resource it will have been in large part the accomplishment of Mr. Sinclair.” John also received many awards from professional forestry organizations as well as a diploma of Gratius Datum from the University of Maine and the Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope from the Boy Scouts of America. Aside from his professional accomplishments, John will be remembered as a good friend by many people. He had a deep respect for the people he worked with in forestry, and enjoyed his friends from St. John Valley, Bangor, Newport, Harford’s Point on Moosehead Lake and Cocoa Beach, Fla. John was predeceased by his wife, Mary in 2001; by his brothers, Robert, Duncan, Hollis; and sisters, Nina, Bernice, Patricia and Mae. He is survived by his oldest brother, Donald of Ottawa, Kan.; a brother-in-law, Ray Johnson of Southampton, Mass. In 2003, John returned to the St. John Valley and married Rose Nadeau of Fort Kent. They enjoyed three summers at her camp on Eagle Lake as well as a year-round view of his beloved St. John River. John is survived by Rose; his children; son, J. David Sinclair and wife, Belinda, of Greenville; daughter, Susan Sinclair Nevins and husband, Bill, of Falmouth; four grandchildren, Stuart Sinclair of Manchester, N.H., Aaron Sinclair of South Berwick, Grace and Molly Nevins of Falmouth; one great-grandson, Owen Sinclair of Rangeley. He also leaves many Sinclair, Baker and Bard nieces and nephews. In 1974, Lew Dietz profiled John in Downeast Magazine and ended with a quote that resonates with everyone who knew him, “I’ve been lucky, you know. I wake up every morning and thank my stars that I live in Maine. I like to do what I can to spread my luck around.” In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those wishing to honor John may make a contribution to Maine High Adventure, care of Katahdin Area Council, P.O. Box 1869, Bangor, ME 04402-1869. At John’s request, there will be no viewing at the funeral home. Friends may gather for a Mass of Christian Burial 1 p.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Soldier Pond. Burial will be held at a later date. Arrangements are being conducted by Daigle & Nadeau Funeral Home, Fort Kent.
JOHN GLENROY SINCLAIR
