Paul R. Comeau

LEEDS – In the early morning hours of Aug. 22, 2022, we lost a good one, and if, by chance, you felt the earth’s axis shift, be certain that our heavy hearts caused it. Paul Comeau, born on March 6, 1948, traded in his old jalopy for a set of wings after a valiant battle with an ugly and unworthy opponent.

He was born and raised in Danville, the third of many siblings, and grew up fiercely loved, raising hell, and gathering the stories he’d forever entertain us with. He attended school in Auburn; first at Sacred Heart Elementary School and then Edward Little High School.

He served in Vietnam, stationed in Thailand for two tours and a lifetime of memories that came to him in both his dreams and waking hours.

Before becoming a dad he was involved in the Boy Scouts, and continued on even though he never had sons. He was one in a think tank of masterminds meeting monthly over bowls of popcorn and creating wildly popular camporee events that OSHA would never approve of.

His true love (not including us!) was driving a truck, most recently for Chapman Trucking of Auburn. He continued on with it in spirit when his body no longer allowed it. We’d say he mostly loved the adventure of the open road and having no one there to micromanage him, and he’d readily agree on both accounts.

A master tinkerer, he had hands that never stopped. His projects knew no bounds, until they came down to the finish work. You never had to take his advice, but you would eventually and undoubtedly regret that you hadn’t. He loved antique cars, puttering around in his garage, feeding the birds, puffing his corncob pipe, having breakfast with his brother Ed, word-searches, wood fires, pressing apples for cider at Octoberfest, and sitting down to a family dinner surrounded by all his favorite faces.

He was the person we called and who came to the rescue when our furnaces made terrible sounds and the water ran cold, when our cars broke down and our lawnmowers wouldn’t start. He could be counted on to show up with a smile, the method, and the means to set things right. He had a tool for everything and knew just where to find it.

He was welcomed into the next chapter by his sisters Jeanne Comeau and Jacqueline Drapeau, his brothers Ed, Marc, and Maurice Comeau, and his parents Larry and Aline Comeau.

He leaves in great sadness his coparent, copilot, private chef, best friend, partner of 50 years, and most true love, Noreen Comeau; his daughters and bringers of immeasurable joy and measurable pain, Daphne, Amanda, and Jeanne Comeau, and son-in-law, David Gendron; his grandchildren Whisper, Courtney, Lily, Dominic, Adri, Everest, Landon, and Avalon; brothers Don, Normand, Rick, sisters Lucille, Maggie, and Claudette, as well as their partners and children. Noreen’s brothers and sisters and their children grieve his loss, as well as the partners and children of his deceased siblings and siblings-in-law. He also leaves his lifelong friends Wally and Dickey Levesque, and those he knew from scouting adventures and high school. We have heard time and again (and know it to be true!) that he made friends wherever he went, so our apologies to any we have missed here. If you didn’t get the chance to meet him, you really missed out, and we offer our condolences to you as well.

In addition to loved ones, he leaves behind a pile of wood not yet chopped, a lawn in need of mowing (among other tasks we’ve assured him we can manage), stories not yet told, and a canyon of a hole that can never be filled. He did not leave behind any grudges, ill will, or unfinished business bearing any importance whatsoever.

We would have loved at least 40 more years with him and still, it wouldn’t be enough. A truly upstanding man who was, and will forever be, our Northstar. It was perhaps, the rarest and most lovely of circumstances in which we knew what we had and how lucky we were to have it, and he did, too. We all made the most of it while we could.

In his honor, we will remember him by doing what he would do: We’ll tell our stories, we’ll laugh, and we’ll leave things a little better than we found them.

Visitation will be held at the Albert & Burpee Funeral Home on Sunday, Aug. 28, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., with a Celebration of Life Service at 12 p.m. Interment, Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Augusta. Memories may be shared at http://www.albert-burpee.com.