LEWISTON – Bernard Gerard “Barney” Charest died peacefully on Monday, April 9, following a long illness.

He was born on Oct. 12, 1946, the third of eight children of Normand E. Charest and Bertha Y. LeClair Charest.

He attended area schools and later worked in local shoe factories, where he ultimately became known as one of the finest master hand sewers in the business.

As a quality assurance technical advisor for Cole Haan and production trouble shooter for other shoe manufacturers for many years, Barney also traveled to Italy, Germany, England, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Japan and Mexico, promoting and demonstrating the art of hand sewing, and spent much of his later years establishing and managing a Cole Haan production facility in Mexico. His last job in the industry was as plant manager for Quebec based Regency Footwear, which in 2005, opened a new facility in the old Pepperell Mill in Lewiston.

He served in Vietnam as helicopter crew chief and door gunner in A Troop, 2nd 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborn Division, in 1969 and 1970. He often spoke of friends lost in battle, contributed three hours of recorded oral history of his experiences to the Maine Folklore Museum Vietnam Veterans Oral History Project, and had started a journal of his Vietnam memories to pass on to his children.

He was also known for his love of the outdoors, and especially for his love of fishing. No fish was ever as great as the story attached to it, but there were always plenty of both. He was a natural storyteller, and will be missed for that special way he had of making the ordinary extraordinary, and always in some way funny.

He was described by his son, Phil, as a craftsman, a dedicated father with an uncommon but kind sense of humor, and as brave and strong-willed, and will be remembered for those qualities and much more by family and friends alike.

He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Louise Morin Charest; their son, Philippe Charest of Norway; daughter, Maryse Charest of Rochester, N.H.; son and daughter from a previous marriage, James Charest of Lewiston, and Tina Libby Charest of Poland; grandchildren, Colin Ridley, Taylor Lynn Charest, Sophie and Sarah Charest, and Stephanie Baril; his mother, Bertha Y. Libby of Lewiston; and his siblings, N. Michael Charest of Dallas, Texas, Joanne Ducharme of Poland, Nicci Leamon of Casco, Leonard Charest of Miami, Fla., Dianne Dubois of Turner, Daniel Charest of Dover, N.H., and Ronald Charest of Lewiston; as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.