LEWISTON – Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Paul M. Beegel, M.D., 86, of Auburn, passed away on Friday, March 21, at Central Maine Medical Center.

He was born in Roosevelt, N.Y., April 21, 1921, the son of Paul M. Beegel Sr. and Maude Field Beegel. A 1942 graduate of the University of Maine, he received his medical training at New York University College of Medicine and interned at Meadowbrook Hospital in Hempstead, N.Y., 1945 to 1946.

He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. While on regular service, he practiced psychiatry and general medicine at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Knoxville, Iowa, and completed an assistant residency in orthopedics at the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, Calif.

Postgraduate study and a residency in orthopedics followed at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, he was certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery.

After moving to Auburn in 1953, he was appointed to the staff of Central Maine General Hospital as an orthopedic surgeon. There he served as president of staff from 1965 to 1967, chief of orthopedics from 1967 to 1968, and chief of surgery from 1969 to 1973.

In addition, he held a courtesy appointment as orthopedic surgeon at St. Mary’s General Hospital and consulted for many other Maine hospitals and medical programs. He also served as a state medical examiner for more than 25 years.

A member of the U.S. Army Reserve, he served locally with the 1125th U.S. Army Hospital as chief of orthopedics, chief of surgery and finally as commanding officer, retiring as a colonel in 1985. In this capacity, he was involved with civil defense and emergency preparedness.

He published several papers on aspects of orthopedics in the Archives of Pathology and the Journal of the Maine Medical Association. He belonged to many national and regional medical associations, including the Maine Medico-Legal Society, the Maine Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, which he served as president from 1977 to 1979, and the Maine Trauma Committee of the American College of Surgeons, which he served as secretary-treasurer from 1963 to 1964, and chairman from 1964 to 1965.

An avid sportsman, he enjoyed hunting, a hobby he pursued not only in the Maine woods, but on trips to the American West, New Zealand, South Africa and the caribou barrens of Labrador. He was a member of the National Rifle Association, Auburn Rifle Club, Auburn Skeet Club, Androscoggin County Fish and Game Association, Ducks Unlimited and the Maine chapter of Safari Club International.

He was also an active member of Toastmasters International, the American Legion, the Tranquil Lodge A.F.&A.M. of Auburn and the Kora Shrine Temple in Lewiston.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Barbara F. Beegel of Auburn; and his daughter, Susan F. Beegel of Phippsburg.