LITCHFIELD – Granville Dustin Small, 92, died peacefully on Jan. 23, at his family home in Litchfield.

He was born in the same house on Nov. 7, 1915, the son of Delmar Rhoades and Genie (Dustin) Small and attended the grade school on Pine Tree Road and Litchfield Academy.

From 1942 to 1945, he was a field lineman in the Eighth Army, 43rd Division of the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion and served in Guadalcanal, Northern Solomons, New Guinea and Luzon.

In 1946, he married Elaine Wright of Auckland, New Zealand. They had one son, Rex. The marriage ended in divorce in 1951. In 1958, he married Shirley Sylvester of Litchfield. They had one son, Delmar. Shirley died in 1975. In 1978, he married Ina Hutchins of Montville, his wife of 30 years, who survives him.

After his service in World War II and time in New Zealand, he returned to the family farm, where he raised livestock and produced lumber and maple syrup for many years. In the late 1960s and 70s, he worked as an electrician, and at Globe Albany in Monmouth.

He greatly enjoyed working the farm and especially haying and lumbering with a team of oxen. He was known for his honesty, helpfulness in the community, his inventive projects and creative approaches. He was at one time town forester, a member of the Litchfield Grange, the Farmers Club, the Maine Tree Farm Association, the Civil Air Patrol and a lifelong member of the Plains Baptist Church. One of his great life projects, for which he will always be remembered, is restoring the family property to its natural beauty after years of gravel mining.

In addition to Ina, he is survived by a sister, Hilda Mitchell and her husband, Emerson, of Gray; a brother, Leo Small and his wife, Fran, of West Gardiner; two sons, Rex Small and his wife, Kathy, of Auckland, N.Z., and Delmar Small and his partner, Teague Morris, of Litchfield; twin granddaughters, Alannah Marshall and her husband, Rowan, and Vanessa Murphy and her husband, Paul, all of Auckland; and many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his brother, Chester Small; and sister, Freda Jones.