NEWBURGH – Robert Marshall Witham Jr., 95, husband of the late Elizabeth (Stilwell) Witham, died March 15, 2013, at Dirigo Pines after a brief illness. He was born Oct. 22, 1917, in Brewer, the youngest of four children to Robert Marshall Witham Sr. and Olive Erdine (Ramsdell) Witham.
The family moved to Bangor where he attended Bangor schools and graduated from Bangor High School in 1935. Bob began working during high school as an usher at both Bangor Opera House and Bijou Theater. He also worked a summer and after graduation as a cookee at Great Northern Paper Co.’s Nesowadnehunk logging camp and loved to tell stories about the Northern Maine Woods. After several other jobs he worked as a salesman at Schiro’s Shoe Store and then began his career next door at Merchants National Bank, Bangor. In 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps and went to Officer Training School, Coral Gables, Fla. Bob graduated as navigator and began instructing navigation there and then in St. Joseph, Mo. While there he renewed his friendship with Elizabeth of Kansas City, Kan., and their courtship became a marriage in 1943. On active duty as a transport navigator Bob flew around the world, landed on all continents except Antarctica, and vividly remembered flying over the Himalayan “Burma Hump.” He crossed the Atlantic and Pacific many times, landed on numerous islands and recalled Fiji most of all. After the war ended, Bob and Elizabeth returned to Bangor where Bob resumed his career at the Merchants National Bank until retirement in 1980. During that time they raised three children: Sally, Carol and Peter in Bangor, Brewer and Newburgh. Bob loved and spent much time outdoors fishing, hunting, hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, canoeing, woodcutting, maple sugaring, and working on house, garden and barns, one of which he built for Elizabeth’s many horses. He was an enthusiastic bird watcher, loved to read biographies and history. Bob loved home cooking and baking beans in his wood cook stove. He had great times playing cribbage and poker with his many friends from childhood into his 90s. His travels continued after the war with camping and canoe trips, hunting in Newfoundland, and trips to England, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Iceland. He went to Alaska and most of the states. Bob’s community involvements included First Congregational Church of Brewer; Brewer Kiwanis; Brewer Public Library; Rising Virtue Lodge No. 10, A.F. & A.M., Bangor; Penobscot Pony Club; and Ski Horse Mountain. He was the recipient of the Boston Post Cane for being the oldest living resident of Newburgh in 2011.
In addition to his parents, Bob was predeceased by his wife, Elizabeth; sisters, Gladys Dewolfe of Riverside, Calif., Olive Bailey and Emma Provost, both of Bangor; and son-in-law, Cary F. Butterfield. Surviving are his three children, Sally Witham, Carol (Witham) Butterfield and Peter Witham; grandchildren, Holly B. Rawlings and husband, Juston, William Butterfield, and Sarah Creamer; five great-grandchildren, one first cousin, and several nieces, nephews and their families and good friends. The family wishes to thank Dirigo Pines and the staff at St. Joseph Hospital for their loving care and compassion.
A funeral service will be held 1 p.m. Monday, April 8, at Brookings-Smith Brewer Chapel, 55 S. Main St., Brewer, with the Rev. Grace Bartlett, pastor of First Congregational Church of Brewer, officiating. Spring interment will be at Woodlawn Cemetery, Brewer. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments after the service Monday at the Family Reception Rooms of Brookings-Smith Brewer Chapel. Those who wish to remember Bob in a special way may make gifts in his memory to the memorial fund of First Congregational Church of Brewer, 35 Church St., Brewer, ME 04412; or Bangor Humane Society, 693 Mt. Hope Ave., Bangor, ME 04401. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.
Robert M. Witham Jr.
