SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Richard Colt Williamson, 62, of North Auburn, passed on peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours on June 20, with his loving wife by his side, en route to Louisville, Ky., to compete in the National Senior Games.

He was born Aug. 29, 1944, in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., son of MacLean and Marion Williamson.

Williamson earned bachelors and master’s degrees from Yale University where he captained the Ivy League hockey team his senior year. He earned a doctoral degree from Indiana University where he played and coached the club hockey team. He was named all Big-Ten Club three times. He started his teaching career in Massachusetts. He began teaching French at Bates College in 1975 and was a master teacher at all levels of French language, literature, and culture for 30 years. He retired in 2005.

He was named a Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus of French and was widely regarded by students and athletes as their catalyst for their “entry into adulthood.” He was a decade-long chairman of the Department of Classical and Romances and Literatures, he created and directed the Fall Semester Abroad Program in Nantes, France, and often visited Avignon with students during short term.

He was the author of numerous articles in French language and pedagogy publications and edited Moliere’s “Les Femmes Savantes” (New York: Hippocrene Books, 1996), and co-edited “Toward a New Integration of Language and Culture” (Middlebury, Vt.: Northeast Conference, 1988). He was a French scholar and resource for all professionals in the teaching of French.

He also served on the Auburn School Committee from 1977 to 1983 and was its president from 1981 to 1983.

The French government, in gratitude for his teaching French language and literature in the United States, named him Chevalier in the Order of the Palmes Academiques in 1997. In 2005, he received the Sister Solange Bernier Lifetime Achievement Award, given by the Foreign Language Association of Maine (FLAME), a nonprofit organization that promotes and improves the teaching and study of foreign languages and cultures.

He enjoyed cross country skiing, running, working around his home in Auburn tending to the garden, attending his children’s athletic events, and biking.

He competed biannually in the National Senior Games and trained year round. He attended many Bates events every year including the Bates Bobcats basketball games in Alumni Gym and swim meets in Merrill Gym. Many in the community from all avenues admired him. Fellow cyclist John Grenier stated, “I don’t feel like he missed out on anythinghe was doing what he loved, always.”

His enthusiasm and energy was unsurpassed by anyone. He was an unselfish man, a family man, a gentleman, and a scholar. He was a competitor and a friend at the same time. But his most valued passions in his life were his family. His wife, Debbie, was his best friend, his soul mate, a lifelong partner. He would do whatever it took to make her happy. There was hardly a game or event that he and Debbie missed of their children. Whether it was Vanessa’s swimming events, Dustin’s cross-country ski meets, Chris’ basketball games, or Melissa’s horse competitions, he was there to watch and show his support. Never critical and condescending, he offered positive feedback and made life fun.

All those he touched in so many ways will sadly miss him. His energy and spirit were contagious as was his smile and compassion for others. Dick’s legacy will live on through his children and wife forever.

He is survived by his wife and best friend of 42 years, Debbie, of North Auburn; two sons, Dustin of Buckfield, and Chris of Lewiston; two daughters, Vanessa of Los Angeles, Calif., and Melissa Williamson Arisiaga of Upperville, Va., and her husband, Eufemio, and son, Ricardo; sisters, Holly Fenster of Burlington, Vt., and daughter, Rebecca, of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Peggy Merrill and husband, Fred, of Woodstock, Vt.

He was predeceased by one daughter, Jessica; and his parents, MacLean and Marion “Maizie” Williamson of Woodstock, Vt.