AUBURN – LeRoy M. Bingham, 88, of 200 Stetson Road, Auburn, died Wednesday, May 5, at the Clover Manor Nursing Home.

He was born in Waterbury, Vt., on Feb. 3, 1916, to Harry and Amy Griffeth Bingham. He attended Mount Hermon School and graduated from Waterbury High School, where he excelled on the basketball team.

He served for a time in the Civilian Conservation Corps, before attending the University of Vermont, where he graduated with a BS degree in Agriculture in 1940. In January of 1937, he married Anita Kittell in Burlington, Vt.

He worked on the Railway Express before starting his career as a Soil Conservationist for the U.S Department of Agriculture in Fort Kent and Madawaska. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army in Italy at the end of World War II.

He is a 50-year member of the American Legion and a member of New Auburn Post 153. After the war, he returned to Auburn, where he served as a Soil Conservationist for Androscoggin and Sagadahoc counties and was instrumental in founding the Soil Conservation District for both counties. He was responsible for many conservation projects throughout the area and received several honors for his work.

For over 20 years he had a Friday morning agriculture news program on WCOU in Lewiston. He was active in the 4-H Club and numerous conservation related organizations. He was a past director of the Auburn Water District and Auburn – Lewiston YMCA.

After his retirement in 1974, he and Anita Moved to Zephyrhills, Fla., where he was active in the YMCA and the Zephyrhills Golf Club. They continued to winter in Florida, and reside at their camp on Taylor Pond in Auburn during the summers until Anita’s death in 1992.

In 1998, he returned to Auburn where he resided at the Schooner Retirement Community. He was a member of the High Street Congregational Church.

He is survived by sons, Lee M. and his wife Glenna of Surry, and Scottsdale, Ariz., and Peter K. and his wife Connie of Cumberland Center; grandchildren, Peter Bingham, Catherine Bingham, Sarah Bingham, Brad Bingham and Jonathan Bingham; and a sister, Ann Bingham of Huntsville, Ala.