WATERVILLE – The Rev. Valmont J.R. Gilbert, 75, died Saturday afternoon, Sept. 24, at MaineGeneral Medical Center-Thayer Unit, after a prolonged illness.

He was born in Winslow on April 10, 1930, the son of Romeo J. and Marie Anna (Breton) Gilbert. He was educated in Notre Dame and St. Joseph Maronite Schools in Waterville, attended Waterville High School for two years and then attended St. Francis College High School in Biddeford for two years. He then attended St. Francis College in Biddeford, earning a degree in philosophy and then entered the Grand Seminary in Montreal, where he studied for the priesthood and attained degrees in philosophy and sacred theology.

He was ordained on June 15, 1957, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, by the Most Rev. Daniel J. Feeney. Shortly after ordination, he was assigned as an assistant at Our Lady of Ransom in Mechanic Falls and St. Agatha in St. Agatha. Then he had assignments in later years as assistant pastor at Holy Rosary in Caribou, St. Joseph’s in Biddeford and St. Ignatius in Sanford. He was pastor of St. Agnes in Island Falls, St. Mary’s in Presque Isle and St. Augustine’s in Augusta. He was administrator of St. Denis in North Whitefield and was pastor of St. Bridget’s in North Vassalboro.

He was temporary administrator of St. Athanasius and St. John in Rumford. He was also pastor of St. Bernard’s in Rockland and St. James in Thomaston. He also had many appointments, several of which were chaplain of the Holy Rosary Circle, Daughters of Isabella 638 of Caribou, chaplain of the Civil Air Patrol in Caribou, member of the Diocesan Priests’ Senate, state prior of the Columbian Squires, chaplain of the Abnaki Council 334, Knights of Columbus, member of the board of trustees, Clergy Benefit/Pension Plan, Diocesan Council of Priests, chairman and chaplain of the Diocesan Human Relations Service (Catholic Charities of Maine), vice forane of the North Kennebec Deanery, chaplain of the Waterville Council Knights of Columbus and Limerock Council Knights of Columbus of Rockland, and faithful friar of the Maj. Sayward N. Hall Assembly, Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus of Rockland.

He served on the Board of Visitors, Maine Correctional Center in 1986. He also served on the Maine Committee on Aging. He was a director of the Bank of Maine, which was later Northstar. He was one of the founders of Cushnoc Bank in Augusta and a member of the Augusta and Rockland Rotary clubs. During his priesthood, he visited the Middle East, Rome, Ireland, France and Washington, D.C.

He is survived by his brother, Joseph “Fern” W. Gilbert and his wife, Lorraine, of Holiday, Fla.