SOUTH FREEPORT — Rand N. Stowell, Jr. died in South Freeport on Thursday, July 12, after a long illness. Rand was born Oct. 14,1941, the son of Rand and Phoebe Hinman Stowell of Dixfield.

He attended Dixfield schools, and graduated from Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H. He then graduated from Dartmouth College and the Boston University School of Law. He was admitted to the Maine Bar in 1967. In 1980, he married Susan Scott of Cambridge, Mass.

Following his graduation from law school and upon the sudden death of his father, Rand became the president of the family-owned forest products company located in Dixfield, then called Timberlands Inc. For 30 years, Rand worked with his two brothers and cousin in building one of Maine’s major businesses known as The United Timber Corp, which owned and operated several independently named subsidiaries.

Following the sale of United Timber in 1999, Rand started several companies and consulted with many others. He also volunteered as a SCORE mentor. At the time of his death, he was chairman of the board of Friends of Maine’s Mountains, a not-for-profit organization that he founded in 2009 to protect the mountains and ridges of Maine from industrial development.

During his working career, Rand served as president of the Maine Forest Products Council and treasurer of the Maine Hardwood Association. He enjoyed politics and several Maine governors sought his counsel. He was appointed to various governmental affairs committees at the federal and state levels. He was most proud of his work on the committees that produced Maine’s Tree Growth Tax Law and the Maine Development Foundation. He served as the chairman of Maine’s Small Enterprise Growth Fund (now the Maine Venture Fund). He served as a trustee of the Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan, N.H., which his mother’s family had founded, and on the Dartmouth college grant committee. Rand served on the board of directors of the Casco Northern Bank and Ventrex Laboratories in Portland, The Knowlton McLeary Co. and New England Financial Group. Over the years, Rand served on many committees in the towns of Dixfield and Weld. He was a founder and longtime president of the Webb Lake Association.

Both the Stowell and Hinman families were early settlers in New England arriving in the 1630s. Until his mother’s death in 2005, when the family home in Dixfield was sold, the family had lived in it for 190 years. Rand’s home at the head of Webb Lake in Weld was in the family for 117 years. He was very proud of his family history in the Androscoggin and Webb River Valley. His family also has ties to Freeport and the Randall Family, who go back to the Revolutionary War.

Rand is survived by his wife, Susan; two sons: Barrett and Whitney; brothers Richard and John; nephews Scotty, Tyler, James, Preston, Porter; nieces Sandy, Lila, Nora, Lisa and Heidi; and multiple cousins. A wonderful big family!

Tributes and condolences may be shared with his family on his memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com.

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