BANGOR and BREWER – Laurent L. Martel, 91, husband of the late Pauline (Stone) Martel, died Dec. 8, 2010, at his home in Veazie. Laurent “Larry” was born Nov. 16, 1919, in Lewiston, son of Leon and Marie-Anne (Belleville) Martel. After working in the Civilian Conservation Corps during his teen years, Larry joined the Army at 17. He was stationed in Georgia and Hawaii before being transferred to the Philippines before the U.S. entered World War II. When the American forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese in April 1942, Larry was taken prisoner until the end of the war in August 1945, surviving the Bataan-Corregidor Death March, the Hell Ships and slave labor. After the war, Larry transferred from the Army Air Corps to the Air Force and continued his military service as a recruiter. It was while he was in Rockland that he met and later married Pauline, sharing 53 years of marriage. Larry served 31 years in the Army, Army Air Corps and Air Force. Upon his retirement from the Air Force, Larry was a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service for 15 years in Trenton, N.J. Shortly after retirement from the post office, he and Pauline moved back to Bangor, where they had lived for many years in the 1950s and 1960s. Larry was an active volunteer with several veterans’ organizations. He was a lifetime member of The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Ex-Prisoners of War, American Legion and the National Association of Letter Carriers. In addition to his loving wife, Pauline, he was predeceased by a daughter, Gail Napurano; brother, Lionel; and a sister, Annette. He is survived by a son, Laurent S. Martel of Essex Junction, Vt.; a daughter, Jill and her husband, Bob Croce, of Dedham; grandsons, Andrew and Ethan Croce; four great-grandchildren; very special sister-in-law and her husband, Mary and Emery St. Clair of Rockport, and their daughter, Sue; several cousins in the Lewiston area; many nieces and nephews. Larry’s family thanks Cheryl Richard, Laurel McKay, Charles Gipson and Gwen Moore for being such wonderful, loving caregivers. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at Brookings-Smith, Clark-Piper Chapel, 55 South Main St., Brewer. Relatives and friends are invited to call 1 p.m. until the time of service Sunday. Interment with military honors will be held noon Monday, Dec. 13, at the chapel of Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Augusta. Those who wish may contribute in his memory to My Friend’s Place, 703 Essex St., Bangor, ME 04401 or Disabled American Veterans, Gift Processing, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301.
MASTER SGT. LAURENT L. MARTEL, U.S. AIR FORCE, RETIRED
