SCARBOROUGH — Erland Stanley Wentzell died peacefully on Saturday, Aug. 7, at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House surrounded by his family.

He was born May 18, 1919, son of Stanley Hugo Wentzell and Millie Baker in Oxford. He grew up in Bethel, graduating from Gould Academy and Bates College. Erl had fond memories of his youth including helping around the farmstead on Mason Street and working with his father on lumber operations in Western Maine.

He met his first wife, Marilyn Howe, at Gould Academy. They married in 1942. In 1950, with a young son and daughter, they boldly moved to Calcutta, India, where Erl managed the Ludlow Jute Co. which employed several thousand workers. Their second daughter was born in India. After traveling in Europe, the Middle East and Scandinavia during vacations, they returned home permanently in 1956. They lived in Farmington, where their third daughter was born, before settling in Falmouth, when Erl took a job with S.D. Warren. Tragically Marilyn died in 1960.

In 1964, Erl married Margaret Robinson Steeves and became stepfather to her two children. The family moved to Sebago finding an old Cape Cod home which Erl himself improved with an addition, three-car garage, horse barn and wood shed.

In Sebago, he and Margaret were leaders in the Sebago Maple Grove Grange and State Grange for more than 30 years. They were instrumental in starting AFS Intercultural Programs at Lake Region High School and hosted the school’s first exchange student, Peter Hurrell from Zimbabwe.

Erl was a member and chairperson of both the Falmouth School Board and the Lake Region School District. He was an active member of the Falmouth Congregational Church and the Sebago Center Community Church.

Upon retirement from S.D.Warren, Erl enjoyed relaxing at their rustic camp on the coast and working on his numerous hobbies which included weaving, cross-stitch, hooked rugs, gardening and fine woodworking. Erl came into his own when he discovered wood carving. His “tour de force” is a miniature replica of a woods sled loaded with 11 cords of wood being pulled by two horses. He donated it to the Bethel Historical Society, where it is currently on view.

Erl loved his family. He loved family gatherings. He will be deeply missed by his wife, children, 17 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and his brother and sister.

Erl is survived by his brother, Rodney Wentzell of Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; his sister, Mary Eichel of Auburn, Mass., and Bethel; his children, C. Stanley Wentzell and his wife, Toot, of Exeter, N.H., Judith Wentzell and her husband, Huey Coleman, of Portland, Rowena Wentzell Strout and her husband, Larry, of North Waterboro and Shirley Wentzell Keene and her husband, Matthew, of Rochester, N.Y.; and his stepchildren, Bonnie Dwyer and her husband, Tom, of Manchester and Gerald Steeves and his wife, Jan, of Gray.

The family would like to thank Erl’s staff and friends at Birchwoods which has been his home for the last few years as well as Hospice of Southern Maine which made his final week a comfort to him and his family.