AUGUSTA — Dr. Carleton B. Ring died April 24, at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta, from natural causes as well as grief over losing his wife of 63 years on Feb. 13.

Born in Richmond on May 29, 1924, Dr. Ring was a proud graduate of the University of Maine, having been the first in his family to earn a college degree. His undergraduate studies were interrupted in his junior year when he was drafted to serve in World War II. He served his country in the Armed Infantry Division as a tank gunner in Germany, Austria and France, which made him hard of hearing for the rest of his life.

Soon after his return from the war, he met his wife, Barbara P. Ring. They were married on July 2, 1949.

He completed his studies at the University of Maine and continued the pursuit of his life-long dream to become a veterinarian. He and Barbara drove from Maine to Texas in order to establish residency and apply for admission to the veterinary school at Texas A & M. When they arrived, they had $17.00 between them and one issue of Reader’s Digest, which they tore in two so each would have a half to read. While establishing residency, Carleton worked as a driver delivering cases of Coca-Cola; he joked that it was the best paying job he’d ever had. He and Barbara made friends there who remained good friends for their entire lives.

During the year they were in Texas, he applied to get into veterinary school at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, even though advisors had said that Guelph was only accepting Canadian students. Undaunted, he nonetheless applied and was accepted, whereupon he and Barbara packed up their car once again with all their belongings and drove north from Texas to Guelph in Carleton’s determined pursuit of his chosen profession.

While in Guelph, Carleton and Barbara had two children, David and Cheryl. They also, again, made dear friends in Guelph with whom they kept in touch and visited throughout their lives.

After earning his degree as doctor of veterinary medicine in 1954, Carleton and Barbara moved back to Maine, where he worked in several practices in Sanford and Portland. In 1959, he purchased his own practice in Auburn, where he was a solo practitioner until his retirement in 2008. He absolutely loved his profession, most of all healing and tending to all the animals he helped during his 53 years of practice.

Carleton and other area veterinarians started the Lewiston-Auburn Emergency Clinic on Strawberry Avenue in Lewiston to better serve pets and their owners after hours and on weekends. He also donated many hours of his time to the Bates College animal husbandry program and the local Humane Society, as well as to many spay and neuter clinics and rabies vaccine clinics in the Lewiston/Auburn area.

In 1999, the Maine Veterinary Medical Association honored Carleton for his many years of practice. After retirement, he often said how gratifying it had been to play with kittens and puppies all day long and get paid for it.

He also was a member of the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Club for 50 years, serving as its president, as well as receiving Rotary’s highest honor as a Paul Harris Fellow. He was dedicated to the principles of Rotary and particularly proud of its campaign to eradicate polio from the world, as well as Rotary’s tireless efforts to contribute positively to the community. He was wellknown for the way he brought the house down with a joke or two whenever he served as Rotary’s Sergeant at Arms.

He also received an award from the American Red Cross for giving blood over many years, enough to save the lives of several thousand recipients. He was dedicated to donating life-giving blood and, in fact, had an appointment to donate at the next Red Cross blood drive on April 30.

Survivors include his daughter, Cheryl Ring and her partner, Stefanie Barley of Hallowell; his son, Dr. David C. Ring and his wife, Dr. Karen Kleinfelder of La Habra Heights, Calif.; his brother, Russell Ring of Union; his brother-in-law, Lowell Savage of Marietta, Ga.; nieces and nephews; and many dear friends all over the world.