LEWISTON – Robert C. Brown, 82, died Monday, April 5, after a short illness at the Central Maine Medical Center with his loving family by his side. He resided in East Rumford.

Born in Meriden, Conn., May 19, 1921, the son of Walter and Elizabeth (Richardson) Brown, he graduated from Meriden High School, Class of 1939 and from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Class of 1944.

During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet, from June 1944 until June 1947. Mr. Brown had been employed as a sales service engineer for Boise Cascade Paper Co. in Rumford for over 37 years, until retirement in 1983. In his retirement, he continued to use his engineering skills in his gardening, for the enjoyment of his family, who were a central part of his life.

He was a member of the Rumford United Methodist Church and Blazing Star Lodge 30, AF & AM. He was married in Meriden, Conn. on Nov. 3, 1945, to the former Ann Colby, R.N., who died in Lewiston on Sept. 4, 2002.

Survivors include two daughters, Margaret Ann Gallant of Carrabassett Valley and Elizabeth May Wilkins and her partner, Michael Simoneau of Livermore; three sons, William W. and Claudia Brown of Bethlehem, N.H., James R. and Lorraine Brown of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and David C. and Charlene Brown of Campton, N.H.; two sisters, Barbara E. Judge of Groton, Conn., and Marjorie B. Fox of Norfolk, Va.; 16 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and three close family friends, Ernest Gallant, Jeffrey Wilkins and Sheila Haskins.