1923 – 2015

POLAND SPRING — Henry H. Hamilton, 91, died peacefully on Sunday, Feb. 8, at his daughter’s home, where he had resided for the past six years. Henry lived for many years in Otisfield and Oxford, working at the Oxford Woolen Mill and the variously named telephone company.

Born on Dec. 24, 1923, in Newport, he spent his early teens working on a potato farm in Perham. At age 16, he took a job as a tractor tender at a logging company, harvesting in what is now known as Baxter State Park. Within a year, he became one of the two tractor (bulldozer) operators in a company of 250 loggers and support staff.

The winds of war were blowing and when he heard that a shipyard in South Portland was hiring, he headed south. There, he met a top woman riveter in the shipyard, Mildred Butler, of Otisfield. They later married and after the war, they settled in Otisfield.

Henry took a job at the Oxford Woolen Mill, where he worked until 1957, when after earning his GED, he went on to work for the New England Telephone Co., where he spent the rest of his working career as a switchman in Lewiston, Portland and Norway.

Henry is remembered for his telling it like he saw it, strong work ethic and subtle sense of humor that never failed to find expression right up to his last days. Hunting was one of his primary passions. He took his vacation in November and kept the family freezer well stocked with venison, as well as brook trout — fishing was another passion.

Henry was an accomplished storyteller, especially about his fishing and hunting exploits. One of the last stories he told was about the occasion when he dropped two deer with one shot in Otisfield. Henry’s stories and good humor will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Henry was a devoted family man and was deeply loved by his large extended family, which fondly referred to him as “Hampty.”

He is survived by half-brothers, Howard, Charles and Donald Maskell; sons, Henry Hamilton and wife, Shirley, of Otisfield and Scott Hamilton and wife, Lynda, of Oxford; daughter, Pamela Blake-Strout and husband, Steve Strout, of Poland Spring; “accepted son,” Mian Ershad Zaheen and wife, Adiba, and children, Zara, Salina and Arman, of Oxshott, England; and grandchildren, Kristi Sarchi and husband, Christopher, David Hamilton, Kristen Hurd, Gabriel Hamilton, Caleb Hamilton, Bently Hamilton and partner, Jennifer Fyfe, Matthew Blake and wife, Jess, and Michael Blake and wife, Amy; and great-grandchildren include Cameron Sarchi, Ashley, Kyla, Lily and Riley Blake, CJ Hamilton and Brooklynn Fyfe.

Henry was predeceased by his wife, Mildred Butler Hamilton.

The family would like to express their profound appreciation for the end-of-life care to our patriarch, selflessly administered by his daughter, Pamela.