1918 – 2015

SOUTH PARIS — Avery John Angevine, 96, of Bethel, passed away on Monday, June 1, at the Maine Veterans’ Home in South Paris.

He was born in Upton on Aug. 22, 1918, the son of John Angevine and Gladys Lombard Angevine. He attended school in Upton and graduated in June of 1934. Through his teen years, he worked on highway maintenance and construction in the summer; he worked logging in the winter; and he worked on log drives on the river in the spring.

In April 1938, he married Mary Marguerite Olson of Wilsons Mills. They resided in Upton where Avery worked for the Davis Sawmill. After the hurricane of 1938, he worked in the woods on hurricane salvage.

In the fall of 1942, he relocated his family to Portland and went to work for the shipyard in South Portland. In the spring of 1944, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and did his basic training in South Carolina. In December of 1944, he was sent to Europe to join the war effort. He became a scout in the Headquarters Co. of the 27th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 9th Armored Division, a spearhead division that headed the drive for the German heartland. He was with the first wave of troops across the Rhine over the bridge at Remagen, Germany. He remained in Germany with the Occupation forces until December of 1945, when he returned to the U.S.

After his discharge from the Army, Avery worked for E.G. Blake as a millwright and mechanic. In 1964, Avery went to work as the assistant manager at Andover Wood Products. While there, he designed a new sawmill to produce hardwood lumber for the furniture industry. The mill produced lumber with the same material flow for 34 years.

In 1976, Avery went to work at P.H. Chadbourne Co. as mill manager. While there, he supervised the installation of a double cut band saw with the first computer setworks east of the Mississippi River. After retiring from the company in 1980, he did consulting work throughout New England for the woodworking industry.

In 1988-1989, Avery oversaw the construction of the Eden Ridge condominiums on land he owned on Vernon Street. He also ran his own portable sawmill doing custom cutting from 1992 until 2009.

Avery served two terms as a Town Selectman and Tax Assessor for Bethel. He also served on the Airport and Budget Committees for the town. He was Chairman of the Building Committee in the beginning years of Sunday River Skiway. He served as vice president of the Board of Directors of the Skiway from 1960 to 1963. Avery and his wife, Mary, loved to travel, making trips to Europe, Hawaii and a six-week trip across the United States and parts of western Canada.

He is survived by two sons, Donald and George (Cheryl) of Bethel; eight grandchildren, Michelle and Michael of California, Scot of Connecticut, Brent (Lori) of Bethel, Dean (Melanie) of Norway, Sarah (Joe) of California, Jeff (Robin) of Bethel and Jill (Kurt) of Kenduskeag. He is also survived by eight great-grandchildren, Abby and Chelsea Angevine of Norway, Luke and Leah Angevine of Bethel, Trevor and Grafton Angevine of Connecticut, Makayla and Jaeden Sanborn of Kenduskeag, and Nick Blila of California; his sister, Mary Agnes Deblois of Shelburne, N.H.; and a special friend, Musa Brown of Bethel.

Avery was predeceased by his parents; brothers, Everett, Ernest, George and John; sisters, Luella, Helen, Carrie, Katherine and Suzanne; his wife, Mary; and a son, Christen Angevine.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Medd of Oxford Hills Internal Medicine and the nurses and staff at the Maine Veterans’ Home for the compassionate care they gave him. Special thanks to Frank DelDuca and the ladies at the Crossroads Restaurant for their kindness to him.

Condolences can be expressed to the family at www.chandlerfunerals.com.