OLD TOWN – Louis M. “Slim” Powell, 87, died peacefully Feb. 13, 2008, at a Bangor health care facility. He was born March 7, 1920, near Moscow, Maine, the son of Lois and Alfred Powell. His mother was a high school math teacher and this involved moving to many towns, including Greenville, Dover-Foxcroft and Chensuncook Village, to seek work while he was growing up. He graduated from the eighth grade and then began a long career in the woods industry in northern Maine. When he was 14 and just out of the eighth grade, he walked into a logging camp of Great Northern Paper Co. on the West Branch of the Penobscot. He found the foreman and asked for a job. The burly foreman looked this skinny kid over and said “What can you do?” in a surly voice. “Slim,” as his friends called him, answered “Cookie” – cook assistant, and waited for the answer. The foreman said “OK, report for work next Monday.” This was in 1934 in the middle of the great depression, and it was one of the happiest days of his life as he rushed home to tell his mother. The family would have steady money now. Louis would work for Great Northern Paper for most of his career with some time spent with James W. Sewall Co. of Old Town. He retired from Great Northern Paper in 1982. From his mother, he developed a love of reading and working math problems. In the logging camps, he would hone these skills and became a registered professional surveyor and forester. At one time he was the chief “scaler” in the West Branch district of Great Northern Paper. He loved to work solutions for math problems in his head without a pencil/paper and later without hand calculators or computers. He had an active and inquisitive mind and loved to tell stories, about events on the West Branch, especially stories about the old log drives. In 1957, he married Helen F. Smith of Old Town, and she survives him. After retiring from Great Northern Paper, he and Helen enjoyed spending several winters in Florida. They wish to thank the wonderful staff at Westgate Manor for their excellent care. A graveside service will be held at a later date at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor. Arrangements are by Kiley & Foley Funeral Service, 299 Union St., Bangor. For those who wish, memorial contributions may be made to Westgate Manor, 750 Union St., Bangor, ME 04401 or to the American Chestnut Foundation, Maine Chapter, care of Glen Rea, ME-TACF President, 231 Buck St., Bangor, ME 04401.
LOUIS M. ‘SLIM’ POWELL
