WALDO and KENSINGTON, N.H. – Edward Harvey Joseph Wilbur, 99, died Dec. 22, 2009, at Waldo County General Hospital. He was born March 12, 1910, in Kensington, N.H., the son of Harvey E. Wilbur and Sadie Bell Bowley. He started working early in life on area farms, but his main occupation was as a lumberman. He was quite skilled cutting with an axe and cross saw, but he did welcome a 1940s transition to chain saws and cut several decades for Richard Sargent Lumber of Merimac, Mass. An avid outdoorsman, he excelled in hunting and fishing, and was noted for his success in hunting bobcats. Of necessity, to feed his large family, he raised different crops on his small farm and had a special pride in his milking shorthorn cows. His wide range of interests included antiques, particularly old glass and china. He had an uncanny knack for finding old bottle dumps in the woods. He endowed not only his work ethic and artistic talent to his children, but also his own keen insights into the relationships of nature well before the word “ecology” came into common use. A devout Catholic, Edward was a longtime communicant of St. Thomas Aquinas Church. As his physical abilities diminished during the last few decades of his life, he became a contemplative, saying several rosaries every day as he prayed for his family and others. He remained active up until a few days before his death, and his daughter, Margaret Fish, with whom he stayed, was constantly challenged to find chores he could do. He was predeceased by his first wife of 34 years, Alice (Simon) Wilbur of Kensington, N.H.; his second wife of 29 years, Ethel (Cobb) Wilbur; two brothers, Bernard and Richard; a sister, Nellie Sawyer; a stepdaughter, Dorothy (Copp) Haley; three sons, Vincent Edward, Mathew Robert and Edward Gerard; and three grandchildren. He is survived by three sons, Gene Wilbur of Parkman, Danny Wilbur of Andeson, Ill., and Harvey Wilbur of Guilford; eight daughters, Alice Knowles of North Hampton, N.H., Monica Winston of Elliot, Margaret Fish of Waldo, Christina Roadell of Nottingham, N.H., Kathleen Landry of Waldoboro, Carol Rudd of Amesbury, Mass., Teresa Blouin of Freemont, N.H., and Louise Roy of Lee, N.H.; his stepgrandchildren, Crystal Wittwer of Fort Mills, S.C., Mikki Northrup of Dexter and Charlie Worster of Dover-Foxcroft; 73 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews. Friends are invited to call 10 a.m. until time of the funeral service 11 a.m. Monday, Dec. 28, at Lary Funeral Home, Dover-Foxcroft. Spring burial will be in the family lot at Dow Cemetery, East Dover. Messages of condolence and memories may be expressed at www.laryfuneralhome.com.
EDWARD H.J. WILBUR
