ORONO – Walter Oliver Read, 86, died peacefully Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007, at his home. He was born Aug. 17, 1920, in Orono, the son of Bert and Delana (Oliver) Read. After graduating from Orono High School in 1939, Walter spent a year traveling around the country. He always said he never saw any place that was better than Maine. Shortly after returning to Maine, Pearl Harbor was attacked and Walter, like so many others of his generation, enlisted in the service. He served in the Marine Corps, 2nd Marine Division, 3rd Defense Battalion, in Guadalcanal from 1942 to April 1943, when he sustained injuries that led to his honorable discharge in 1944. After recuperating at home and prior to enrolling in the engineering program at the University of Maine, Walter played football in a local semi-pro football league. He had a lifelong love of the game and some of his happiest times were watching his son, George, play football for Orono High School. While at the university, he met his future wife, Marjorie Maxim. Walter and Marjorie wed in 1945 and soon moved into their home on Forest Avenue, just a few hundred yards from his family home where he was born. Except for the brief time spent traveling and in the service, Walter lived happily and proudly in Orono. Walter made a living as a carpenter and millwright, but he loved farming. He had a vegetable garden that seemed to get larger every year. Later in life, he and Marjorie had a small perennial flower business that he thoroughly enjoyed. Many local gardens and other garden businesses have plants from Read’s Perennials. Walter was also an avid fisherman. He fished nearly every brook, stream and river in the northern half of the state. Walter is survived by two sons, George of Bangor and David and his wife, Gloria, of Fort Pierce, Fla.; a daughter, Judith Sullivan and partner, Brad Baughman, of Eddington; three grandchildren, John P. Sullivan of Jackman, Tiffany Read of Philadelphia, N.Y., and David A. Read of Arlington, Va.; four great-grandchildren; a sister, Doris Young of Stillwater; several nieces and nephews. Walter was predeceased by his wife, Marjorie; five brothers, Horace, Ralph, Harold, Frank and Arthur; five sisters, Marion Ingersoll, Madeline Stormann, Edith Higgins, Edna Royal and Lois Joaquin. The family will have a memorial service in the spring. Donations may be made in Walter’s name to Eastern Agency on Aging, Alzheimer’s Respite Program, 450 Essex St., Bangor, ME 04401. The support of the respite program was an essential component for the family to care for Walter at home as he wished. The family thanks Sue MacDonald of Bradey, Trudy Trask of Orono and Angela Higgins of Exeter for providing respite care. Arrangements by Memorial Alternatives, 205 Center St., Bangor.
WALTER OLIVER READ
