Jonathan R. Luce

1938 – 2010

FARMINGTON — Jonathan Richard Luce, a resident of Farmington, for most of his life, passed away on Monday, March 22, at Franklin Memorial Hospital after a long illness.

Born in Farmington in 1938, Jon was a descendant through his mother, Rachel Norton Luce, as well as his father, C. Richard Luce, of two of the original founding families of the Farmington area.

He attended both Farmington High and Kents Hill school, from which he graduated in 1956.

After serving in the U.S. Army, based in France, he graduated from University of Maine at Orono and then the University of Maine Law School.

Advertisement

On returning to Farmington after law school, he founded a law practice on Main Street. His law office was one of the most diversified and successful practices in Franklin County. He also found time to serve part-time as county clerk of courts from 1968 to 1970. From 1971 through 1974, he served as county attorney for Franklin County, the last before institution of the full time District Attorney system.

Throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s, he was legal counsel for the town of Farmington, where he also served on a number of its committees including as chair of the Farmington Budget Committee. In the early 1990s, he served on the Farmington Board of Selectman, including a year as its chair. He also owned the Colonial Valley Motel on the Wilton Road.

He was actively involved with the local Lions Club, the Elks and the Masonic Lodge, as well as the Volunteer Fire Department of West Farmington.

In earlier years, he was an avid skier, golfer and tennis player, but his lifelong passion was boating. From a childhood spent at his parents’ summer cottage on Boothbay Harbor to a succession of sailboats and powerboats he owned and enjoyed with his family throughout his adult life, he was never happier than when enjoying the ocean with his family. When not actively boating, he enjoyed reading about boats and boat design, and planning future cruises.

His family and friends will remember him for his energy, love of life, and irreverent sense of humor.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Barbara; six children; stepchildren; 12 grandchildren; as well as a sister, Suzanne Twitchell.

Additionally, he was predeceased by his brothers, Roger and G. Norton Luce.


Share your condolences, kind words and remembrances below. You must be logged into the website to comment. Subscribers, please login. Not a subscriber? Register to comment for free or subscribe to support our work.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.