BETHEL – J. Richard Littlefield, 73, of Bethel, died peacefully in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his family, on Monday, June 16.

Dick was born Nov. 30, 1934, in Boston, Mass., to Lyman and Laura Johnson Littlefield. He became a ward of the state of Maine at a very early age and lived in several foster homes.

The happiest years of his childhood were spent with foster parents, Warren and Eleanor (Lyons) Bean of Bethel. He lived with them from age nine to adulthood. He not only enjoyed his life with them and their extended families, he gained experience working with Warren and his brother, Richard, in their plumbing business.

He attended Gould Academy, Bethel, and left school as a sophomore to join the Army, serving from 1952 to 1955. He proudly served his country in Korea. He returned to Bethel to marry his grammar school sweetheart, Nesta Gordon on Jan. 29, 1955, and together they raised five children.

He and his young family went to New Jersey, to work for the Ford Motor Co. He returned to Maine in 1962, to begin a plumbing and heating career that would sustain him and his family for the rest of his life. He worked first with Benedix Brothers, Rumford as an apprentice, building on skills first learned with Warren and Richard Bean.

Several years later, he got employment with Brooks Brothers Inc. in Bethel. He left Brooks Brothers to start his own successful business in 1969. He was well known throughout the state for his expertise as an oil burner technician.

He served the Bethel Fire Department as a volunteer through the 1960s and became a member of Bethel Masonic Lodge No. 97 A.M. & F.M in the early 1970s. He was worthy patron for Purity Chapter 102, O.E.S. for several years and he later joined Mt. Zircon Chapter No. 142, Order of the Eastern Star, Grand Chapter of Maine. He was a member of the Kora Temple, Oxford County Shrine Club and Kora Temple Funsters. A long-time member of the American Legion, he was chosen as a post commander of Jackson Silver Post No. 68, Locke Mills and upon his death was serving as first vice commander of the American Legion Mundt-Allen Post, No. 81.

He earned his high school diploma in 1988 through the adult education program at Telstar Regional High, an achievement his family is very proud of. As a former foster child, he developed an interest in his birth family and he and Nesta worked together to discover a younger brother, George G. Newman of Michigan in 1964. The brothers established a strong, brotherly bond that lasted until George’s death in 2000. In 1998, he discovered yet another brother, John Brown of Skowhegan and a sister, Doris Harmon, living in Arizona. He quickly connected with these siblings and their children and loved their visits.

For him, family was everything. All his life, he nurtured the family that he’d created and the family he discovered. He worked hard to provide a very special place to raise his children. He gave unconditional love to his family. Friends and customers will testify to his loyalty, honesty, quick (and wicked!) wit, strong work ethic and skill. He was kind, compassionate and generous with both his time and his resources. He loved to hunt and he loved his apple orchard. His retirement years were spent building and tending Littlefield’s Orchard.

He is survived by his wife, Nesta Littlefield of Bethel; two sons, Randal J. Littlefield and wife, Maribeth, of Monkton, Md., and Richard R. Littlefield of Bethel; three daughters, Cathy Hoy and husband, Lenny, of Greenwood, Lauri Degen and husband, Scott, of Bethel and Sharon Littlefield and partner, Gary Schneider and his son, Stephen, of Madison, N.H.; seven grandchildren, Christopher Littlefield of Baltimore, Md., Scott Morse and wife, Joanna, of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, Jessica Reichenbach and husband, Josh, of Jacksonville, Fla., Michael Hoy and wife, Megan, of Jacksonville, Fla., Anna Littlefield of Monkton, Md., and Alecia Littlefield and Samuel Littlefield, both of Bangor; two great-grandchildren, Xander and Peyton Reichenbach, of Jacksonville, Fla.; and many nieces and nephews.