PORTLAND – Roger Verrill, 79, of Oquossoc, a retired grocer and Registered Maine Guide, died on Friday, April 27, at Maine Medical Center, with his family at his side.

He was born in Lewiston, on June 25, 1927. He grew up on Perkins Ridge and attended Auburn schools. He graduated from Edward Little High School in 1947, and Bliss Business College in 1949.

He was a World War II veteran, serving in U.S. Navy aboard the USS Everett F. Larson. He married the former Virginia May Stevens of Canton Point on June 21, 1952. They owned and operated Roger’s Market in downtown Oquossoc for 24 years. He later managed the Westshore Camps on Rangeley Lake for L.L. Bean for 10 years.

He was a registered Maine Guide since 1955, and loved hunting and fishing in his beloved western mountains of Maine. He was a member of the Rangeley Lakes Guides and Sportsman Association. He was a charter member of the Western Mountain Shrine Club, an active member of the Kemankeag Lodge 213 of Rangeley, all bodies of the Maine Consistory Valley of Auburn and Portland 32 degree, and a member of the Kora Shrine Temple of Lewiston, where he served as a potentates aide.

He was a Paul Harris Fellow in the Rangeley Rotary Club and a charter member of the Rangeley Congregational Church U.C.C. He was a volunteer fireman and served as captain of the Oquossoc station for many years. He and his wife Virginia wintered in Estero, Fla., where he enjoyed horseshoes and oil painting. They returned to their home on Rangeley Lake each March to get ready for ice-out and the start of fishing season. One of his quotes was: “The fishing is always good, it’s the catching that’s tough!”

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Virginia of Oquossoc; a son, Dr. Bruce Verrill, D.M.D. of Falmouth Foreside; a daughter and son-in-law, Brenda and Gary Wingate of Nashua, N.H.; granddaughters, Katherine, Lauren, and Natalie Wingate; a sister, Eleanor Smith of Dudley, N.C.; and several special cousins and extended family members.