AUBURN – Gerald R. “Jerry” Pontbriand, 86, of 80 7th St. Auburn, died Monday evening, Aug. 23, at Clover Manor with members of his loving family by his side.
He was born Dec. 11, 1917, the son of Arthur and Elida Simard Pontbriand and was educated in Auburn schools graduating from Edward Little High School in 1935. He served in the U.S. Army overseas with the 356th Fighter Group during World War II as a mechanic, working on P-51 Mustangs.
After the war he attended college in France. When “Jerry” returned home, he met and married Thelma Royer on Jan. 22, 1951. He worked in the family business as owner and operator of Pontbriand’s Hardware in New Auburn prior to his retirement in 1980. He was a member of St. Louis Church, St. Louis seniors club, American Legion Post 153, New Auburn. VFW Post 1603, and the Knights of Columbus Council 8742.
He was a founding member of the Auburn Ski Club and Fairlawn Country Club. In 1953, he was elected to the Auburn School Committee, serving until 1978 with the last five years as chairman. In his younger years, he was always athletic and led his team to the New England Baseball Championships as the first baseman for the Auburn Crusaders.
He and his wife enjoyed visiting his sons at National Parks, tinkering in his garage, working at his beloved camp at Thompson Lake, playing bingo with his wife, golfing at Fairlawn Country Club, and watching his grandchildren follow his legacy in sports.
He is survived by his wife, Thelma, of 53 years; a daughter, Linda Pontbriand and her fiance, David Gross, of New Auburn; five sons, Robert and his wife, Diana, of Auburn. Thomas, of Auburn, Daniel, of Port Angeles, Wash., Edward and his wife, Kelly, of Gouldsboro, and Mark, of New Gloucester; eight grandchildren, Erin Breau, of Auburn, Alyson Farrington, of Lewiston, Travis Pontbriand, of Auburn, Tara Pontbriand, of Durham, Matthew Pontbriand, of Auburn, Daniel Pontbriand, of Auburn, Trevor Pontbriand, of Durham, Katherine Pontbriand, of Gouldsboro; a great-grandson, Aiden Breau, of Auburn; a sister, Muriel Bartasius, of Poland; a brother, Bertrand Pontbriand, of Auburn.
He was predeceased by brothers, Leo and Fern Pontbriand.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Share your condolences, kind words and remembrances below. You must be logged into the website to comment. Subscribers, please login. Not a subscriber? Register to comment for free or subscribe to support our work.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.