RUMFORD – John Leon Hartranft Jr., 87, died July 9.

He was born the son of Dr. and Mrs. John L. Hartranft in New Rochelle, N.Y., on June 22, 1918. He was the second of three children, including his older brother, Thomas W. Hartranft (1914-1944), and his younger sister, Kittie K. Roemer of Lake Carey, Pa.

After graduation from New Rochelle High School, he received in 1940 a bachelor’s of science degree in forestry from Pennsylvania State University. Following graduation from college, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service in northern Michigan and then Abitibi Power and Paper Co., in northern Ontario.

The day following the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor, he resigned his employment with Abitibi and returned to the U.S., enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps. On Sept. 5, 1942, he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant on which day, in a traditional marriage ceremony at Craig Field Army Base in Selma, Ala., he proudly claimed to receive his wings and his wife, Jeanne Law Billings of Tunkhannock, Pa.

He was assigned to the Craig Field Advanced Flying School as an advanced flight instructor, where he instructed pilots during the last two months of their training prior to receiving their wings. He separated as captain from the Air Corps in November 1945. He was a proud member of a great generation!

In December 1945, he was hired as the first forester employed by Oxford Paper Co., in Portland. He transferred to Rumford in 1954, where he built his home on the banks of the Androscoggin River, the place on earth he most wanted to be. He dearly loved the state of Maine.

His career positions with Oxford Paper Co., Ethyl Corp., and Boise Cascade spanned from forester, chief forester, manager of Timberlands and forestry to general manager, wood department, a position he held until his retirement in June 1982.

During his career, he served on many professional committees including chairman of the Maine Tree Farm Committee, chairman of the New England section of the American Pulpwood Association, board of directors of the American Pulpwood Society and board of directors of the Naswalk Pulp and Paper Co.

Some of his fondest yet faded memories were of fly fishing for trout with his beloved dad on the Neversink River in the Catskill region of New York, fishing for bass with family members on Lake Carey, Pa., or hunting rabbits with his beagle, “Nick,” in the hills around Rumford.

He was a self-taught botanist who collected, identified and catalogued in intricate detail more 700 native plants. He had a likewise interest in entomology, having preserved hundreds of different insects in an elaborate insect collection. He was an avid bird-watcher, having built a 30-year record of when different bird species returned each year to Rumford. He saw the great outdoors from a different view than most.

“Papa” always worried about the welfare of his family, they always came first.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Jeanne B. Hartranft, of Rumford; son, Thomas W. Hartranft and wife, Marie, of Greenville, S.C.; daughter, Jeannie H. Migliardi and husband, Donald, of Cos Cob, Conn.; daughter, Holly H. Deshane and husband, Thomas, of Brewer; two granddaughters; four grandsons; two great-grandsons; his very close sister, Kittie K. Roemer; and his close friend and brother-in-law, Robert H. Roemer of Lake Carey, Pa.

The family of John L. Hartranft Jr., wants to express their deepest appreciation to the staff of the Rumford Community Home, especially to the everyday caregivers who treated him so kindly. The family also wishes to express thanks to the very caring staff of the Rumford Community Hospital.