Eugene L. Letourneau's Obit
Bob
Eugene L. Letourneau
ŠCopyright 1998 Guy Gannett Communications
TRIBUTE
Outdoors writer Letourneau dies: 'Hunting and fishing was his passion and
his profession as well'
Letourneau's death marks end of a remarkable era: Our editorial pays homage
to Maine's greatest outdoors writer
Happy 90th, Gene: Staff writer Larry Grard visited with Gene as he prepared
for his 90th birthday.
Marking a shadow in the Maine woods: Gene Letourneau watched a total eclipse
July 20, 1963, while sitting in a canoe on one of his gavorite Maine trout
ponds. He then wrote the following Sportsmen Say column.
Portland Press Herald tribute: Gene Letourneau's life remembered.
WATERVILLE - Eugene "Gene" L. Letourneau, 90, of Waterville, died peacefully
Sunday, July 5, 1998, at Mount St. Joseph in Waterville.
He was born on Sept. 12, 1907, in Waterville, the youngest of six children
of J. Alfred and Rose DeLima (Loubier) Letourneau. He attended local
schools, graduated from Waterville Senior High School in 1925 and later
attended Thomas Business College.
His first career was as a professional musician. He began playing drums in
the pit orchestra at Waterville Opera House in the early 1920s, providing
music for silent films and vaudeville. He later played with several local
bands, including the Walter Hood Orchestra, which appeared at Lakewood and
Old Orchard Beach. He eventually joined Art Landry's Victor Recording
Orchestra as percussionist. It was while performing with the Landry
organization that he was playing off-Broadway on Nov. 29, 1929, the day the
stock market crashed.
His love of the outdoors soon called him back to Maine and in 1929 he was
hired by the Waterville Sentinel as a reporter, later becoming city editor.
In 1946 he began writing his daily column, Sportsmen Say, which appeared in
the Gannett newspapers in Waterville, Augusta and Portland for 46 years. He
was a frequent contributor to national outdoor sports magazines and for
several years wrote a regular column for Down East magazine of Maine. He was
the author of several books and contributed to several anthologies on
hunting and fishing.
Mr. Letourneau was a frequent speaker at hunting and fishing groups
throughout the state and often appeared at Author's Day programs at area
schools. For more than 45 years he attended virtually every legislative
hearing pertaining to hunting, fishing and trapping in Maine, where his
experience and expertise were frequently sought.
During his long and illustrious career as journalist, author,
conservationist and champion of those who love the Maine outdoors, he was
the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Among these were citations from
the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, Trout Unlimited, honorary degrees from
Colby and Thomas colleges and induction into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.
He was a founding member and past president of the New England Outdoor
Writers Association. The Waterville Elks Club established a very successful
hunter safety program in his name, and the Maine Fish & Game Department
dedicated the Frye Mountain Gene Letourneau Wildlife Management Area in his
honor. He officially retired in 1994, completing 65 years' employment by Guy
Gannett Communications, which honored him at that time by establishment of
the Gene Letourneau Maine Outdoor Book Library at Colby College.
Although Mr. Letourneau enjoyed every aspect of the outdoors, his greatest
passions were fly fishing for native Maine brook trout and hunting upland
game birds over a pointing dog. These pursuits he continued to enjoy until
his recent decline in health.
Mr. Letourneau was predeceased by his wife of 61 years, Lucille Jacques
Letourneau, who died in 1996.
Survivors include his three children and their spouses, J. Alfred Letourneau
and his wife, Lorraine, of Sidney; Jeanne Anne Codere and her husband,
Cyril, of Waterville and Julie D. DuPont and her husband, Sidney, of
Waterville; two sisters-in-law, Antoinette Boyd of New Bedford, Mass., and
Doris Bolduc of Willingboro, N.J.; eight grandchildren, L. Scott Letourneau
and his wife, Karen; Danielle Kane and her husband, Joseph; James Letourneau
and his wife, KellyMarie; Julie Letourneau; Andrew DuPont and his wife,
Vanessa; Joseph DuPont; Christina Codere and Benjamin Codere; six
great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; several godchildren; two
very close family friends, Patricia Vashon of Waterville and Mary Logan of
Augusta.
There will be no public visiting hours. A memorial Mass will be celebrated
at 11 a.m. Thursday at Sacred Heart Church, 70 Pleasant St., Waterville,
with the Rev. Scott Mower officiating. Burial will follow in St. Francis
Cemetery in Waterville. Arrangements by Gallant Funeral Home of Waterville.
In tribute to his memory he would have wished that we all enjoy and respect
God's great outdoors.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Sacred Heart Soup
Kitchen, Mount St. Joseph Nursing Facility, Gene Letourneau Endowment of
Colby College or Mount Merici Academy.