TOGUS – Arthur Demirs, 90, of Gardiner, formerly of Denmark and Bridgton, died at Togus VA Medical Center on Oct. 6 after a long and courageous battle with renal failure.

He was born on Oct. 16, 1916, in Saco, the son of Xheffari Demirs, originally of Tirana, Albania and Emma (Simpson) Demirs. Arthur’s childhood quickly ended at age 13 when his mother died in childbirth, leaving him as the second oldest in a family of six sons and a daughter. Wanting to keep the family together, he quit school and went to work in the cotton mill.

As an adult, he served as a Maine National Guard advisor for 10 years, later enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was commissioned as a lieutenant at Officers’ Candidate School in Fort Benning, Ga. and received orders during World War II to accompany Maine’s 103rd Infantry Division in its South Pacific Campaign on New Georgia, Guadalcanal and Corregidor, where he earned two Bronze Stars and the Presidential Commendation for Meritorious Service. He also received numerous honors and awards as part of America’s peacekeeping forces in Germany from 1952 to 1954, and in Korea on the 38th Parallel in 1958 and 1959. He retired in 1961, settling in his wife’s hometown of Denmark.

In his retirement, Arthur sharpened his skills in many areas, all of which brought him a great deal of enjoyment. He especially enjoyed refurbishing antique tools, using them to restore antique homes and barns. He studied tole painting and antique stenciling for many years, restoring tinware, chairs and Boston rockers. He and his wife owned Millie’s Antiques, a Bridgton shop, and became an expert in antique weapons, glassware and kitchen utensils.

He loved gardening and took special pleasure in growing heirloom vegetables and flowers. He was an organic gardener long before it became the watchword of the day, insisting that people did not evolve with the ability to process chemicals. He mentored many young men as they found challenges in the process of growing up, working to impart his work ethic, common sense and values. Arthur was the quintessential storyteller, using his well-told narratives not only to entertain, but to pass on family history, values and beliefs.

Having lost his hearing completely as a result of his military service, he was an avid reader. In the last months before his death he said, “I can’t do much, but I’m going to do what I can do.” It was then that he started writing his memoir, organizing photographs and recipes collected over the last 50 years, and working on his scrapbooks. His oral South Pacific service history will become part of the collected works at the Library of Congress. Asked what he wished he could tell people about war, he said, “I wish the young men and women serving in the military could know that it will change their lives forever. Once they have experienced combat, they can never be the same. Somehow we have to figure out ways for everyone to live in the world without participating in war.”

Arthur will be remembered for his love of life. He was happiest when he was with friends and relatives involved in a good time; ice fishing, playing cribbage, entertaining his daughter’s friends, visiting his granddaughter, celebrating holidays, skiing on snow or water, taking ballroom dancing lessons with his wife, attending Fryeburg Fair, creating surprise gifts, feeding his birds and squirrels. He had enough projects in mind for a half dozen lifetimes.

He is survived by his wife and best friend of 60 years, Millie; his daughter, Marj and her husband, John Burgess, of Gardiner; his granddaughter, Maria Burgess; grandsons, Matt Burgess of Bridgton and Andy Burgess and wife, Angie, and their family of Windsor; his brother, Harraden and wife, Rosemary, of Lynn, Mass.; and brother, Adam Demirs of Temple, Texas; his nephew, Timmy Demirs and wife, Colleen, and children, Matthew and Teressa, of Lynn, Mass.; and many other nieces, nephews and cousins. Other survivors include his special Lewiston “family,” the daughter Irene Biron and late son, Ray Chouinard, of Pierre and Blanche Chouinard, with whom he lived before the war, as well as their grown sons and daughters and their families.

He was predeceased by his sister Margie; and his brothers Frederick, Jeffrey and Clayton.

Our family will always remember the compassionate care that Artie received at the Augusta Kidney Center and at Togus VA Medical Center. He prepared himself for dialysis as if for combat, a process that gave him an additional two-and-a-half years of life. We are thankful for so many fine individuals who made the last years of his life possible, for even then he was a model of courage, humor and perseverance.