ST. GEORGE, Maine — Harold Wilson was a highly educated man who grew up on fishing boats and knew how to work hard with his hands.
Those qualities and experiences allowed him to relate to students, said Medomak Valley Principal Andrew Cavanaugh. Wilson died Monday, a little more than four months after being diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer. He was 63.
Son Josiah Wilson said his father died in comfort with family at his side. He died at home as he wanted, his son said.
“He will be missed by many. He now rests in a better place,” his son said.
Wilson always worked hard for what was best for students, Cavanaugh said. Wilson had served at Medomak Valley in Waldoboro for 25 years, including the past nine as principal.
“He never gave up on a kid. He never judged them,” Cavanaugh said. “He wanted each of them to succeed.”
In an April interview, Wilson told the BDN that he believed in giving clean slates to any student who misbehaved, even if they were suspended from school. He said some of these students may have come from homes lacking food or dealing with domestic violence. Wilson said he was fortunate to come from a home where he had loving and caring parents but that if he had come from a home that some of the students have, things could have turned out differently.
Wilson also was a deeply religious man, Cavanaugh said, but he didn’t talk much about it.
“He always walked the walk,” Cavanaugh recalled.
Wilson was a St. George native and 1969 graduate of Georges Valley High School in Thomaston. He came from a fishing family and went lobstering and worked aboard sardine carriers operated by his grandfather and uncle. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with a civil engineering degree in 1973. He was employed in the Rockland area for two years with a company that worked with small sewage treatment plants.
When the economy slowed because of the first Arab oil embargo, he returned to fishing. After earning enough to buy a small, old lobster boat, he fished with 300 traps for a while.
But he said that work became routine and boring, and he wanted more of a challenge. He also wanted a job that provided health insurance because he was the father of three children. This led to him being hired by the Calvary Baptist Church school in Warren, where he taught science and math for grades seven through 12.
He held that job for six years until being hired as a chemistry teacher at Medomak.
Cavanaugh said those experiences helped Wilson be able to reach young people.
“He knew how to relate to students across the spectrum,” Cavanaugh said.
In April, the community rallied around the veteran educator and friend. A group of teachers shaved their heads in support of Wilson and to raise money to help him with expenses. A community dinner and auction also were held for him.
Funeral arrangements are being made final, but Cavanaugh said he expects that the service will be held next Wednesday at the Medomak Valley gym. Cavanaugh said Wilson had talked with him about a memorial service and said that it should be held in the gym so that if there was a large crowd no one would be left outside where they might get rained on.