WATERFORD – David H. Marston, 72, of Waterford, a town selectman until March 1, died on March 13.

He was born in Waterford on May 8, 1935, the son of Laurence W. and Viabelle D. (Abbott) Marston.

He was educated in Waterford schools, where his fourth-grade teacher was his mother. David was in the last class to graduate from the Waterford Flat one-room school in 1949. As a boy, he was active in 4-H, youth fellowship and the Boy Scouts. He attended Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, graduating in 1953. While there, he was class president, captain of the basketball team and a member of the debate team and the National Honor Society. He gave a commencement address at graduation.

He graduated from the University of Maine in 1957 with a B.S. in agricultural engineering. As a student, he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma and the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. He also played baseball and was enrolled in the ROTC program, serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Dix, N.J.

Upon graduation, David worked as a field test engineer for the J.I. Case Co. in Rockford, Ill., as a proposal engineer in high speed packaging machinery for George J. Meyers Co. in Worcester, Mass., and for the Pneumatic Scale Corp. in Rochester, N.Y.

He married Sara A. Bennett in 1962 and the couple resided in Framingham, Mass. They divorced in 1970. After relocating to Yarmouth, Maine, in 1970, he worked as a manufacturer’s representative and he served as an applications engineer for Eutectic Corp., Chromate Industrial Corp. and most recently for the Texas Refinery Corp. He returned to East Waterford in 1990 where he lived at the L.W. Marston farm until his death.

David was an avid runner and until recently competed in many road races throughout Maine and New England, including the Beach to Beacon 10K race. He was also instrumental in establishing and promoting the annual race benefiting Healthy Oxford Hills, an organization committed to improving the health of community members in Western Maine. “David was a very faithful member and only missed one meeting in seven years,” said a fellow member. “He was a go-getter person whom we could depend on to get things done.”

Active in local government and politics, David was chairman of the Waterford Republican Committee, a trustee of the Waterford Historical Society and a longtime member of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, an endeavor that affirmed his lifelong passion for the state’s woodlands.

While acting as a third-generation caretaker of his family’s 230-acre farm in East Waterford, he was known for his well-cared-for vegetable garden and stewardship of the fields, orchards and forest. He served as selectman for the town, as did his father. He was given a plaque at the March 1, 2008, town meeting in recognition of his dedication to that office and the town. He was known for faithfully attending the various committee meetings as a representative of the Board of Selectmen.

He took great pleasure in selecting the recipient of the Viabelle A. Marston Scholarship, an award named after his mother and given annually for academic excellence to a graduating senior at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

He is survived by two daughters, Rebecca A. Marston of Boston, Mass., and Deborah Poulin of Crystal River, Fla.; two grandchildren, Joshua Poulin and Sara Poulin, of Crystal River, Fla.; a brother, Richard Marston and his wife, Erika, of Winter Haven, Fla.; a sister, Janet M. Bodwell and her husband, William Bodwell, of Brunswick;, a sister-in-law, Katherine Marston of Prescott, Ariz.; his nieces, Anne Marston of Prescott Valley, Ariz., Vicki Koehler of Carmel, and Karen Bodwell-Deren of Westfield, Mass.; his nephews, Laurence W. Marston II of Panama City Beach, Fla., Stacy D. Marston of Orland, James E. Bodwell and Richard S. Bodwell of Brunswick, and William E. Bodwell Jr. of Topsham; and several great-nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents; his oldest brother, Merwin Marston; and a sister-in-law, Harriet Eloise Marston.