FREEPORT – Eugene Carroll Coughlin II, originally of Augusta, passed away at the Hawthorne House Convalescent Center in Freeport on Dec. 31.

“Gene” attended Cony High School, where he was an all-state athlete in football, baseball and hockey, and later, at St. Paul’s Prep School in Long Island, N.Y. He attended Brown University on a full athletic scholarship before serving in World War II in the European Campaign under Gen. George C. Patton.

He married the former Constance Carrigan of Lewiston, whose father, William “Rough” Carrigan, managed the Boston Red Sox to back-to-back World Series titles in 1915 and 1916.

Gene and Connie settled in Rumford where he worked for 30 years at what was then the Oxford Paper Co. They raised two sons and three daughters.

He was an avid golfer, tennis player and skier. He and Connie were two of the first to ski at Sugarloaf in the early 1950s, before ski lifts were put in. They enjoyed a small (get-away) cabin in Eustis, dubbed Hodge Podge Lodge, which Gene thought of as “the best investment I ever made.”

Gene was a generous man and believed education to be a priority. He read voraciously and enjoyed buying nature, science and art books for his children, 12 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. He often took them to art museums in Boston, and on nature treks to look for moose, deer, bear and other animals in the Maine woods.

He was a member of the Audubon Society and was seldom without his bird book and a pair of binoculars. Whenever he spotted a great blue heron, his favorite bird, he would comment, “It will be a good day.”

After retirement, he and Connie, whom he often referred to as his “bride,” were fortunate to travel throughout the United States, Canada and parts of western Europe, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Gene will be remembered for his love of family, his interest in and deep appreciation of Maine, and its many treasures, and his enthusiasm for knowledge.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Connie; one son, Eugene Carroll Coughlin III; and three daughters, Doreen Simones and Dale Bourassa, of Freeport, and Constance Goodwin of Bridgewater, N.H.

He was predeceased by his son, Barry, who died in 1973.

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