David Wesley Plumer, 81, formerly of Damariscotta, passed away on Dec. 10 after a long and courageous battle with heart disease.
Born in Schenectady, N.Y., he was the son of Wesley Clark Plumer and Grace (Fox) Plumer. He attended schools in Maple Wood, N.J. and high school in Kenmore, N.Y., where he attained the rank of Eagle Scout and was inducted into the Order of the Arrow.
He attended Harvard University in the Army Specialized Training program and in 1944 did Basic Training at Fort Bragg, N.C. He joined the 109th field artillery battalion of the 28th division in the European Theater, where he received two battle stars for the operations in the Colmar Pocket and the Rhur campaign. After honorable discharge from the service in 1946, he attended Cornell University and graduated from Cornell in 1950 with a degree in electrical engineering.
He joined the General Electric Company test program and was selected for the Advanced Engineering Program while working on test assignments in Lynn, Mass., Erie, Penn., and Schenectady, N.Y. He then joined the Industry Control Dept. where he designed controls for steel mills in the United States, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands. He later joined the Industrial Engineering Dept. in the Steel Mill Application Engineering Section. He transferred to Cleveland, Ohio in 1959 as the G.E. application engineer for several steel and metals industries. In 1964, he transferred to the G.E. Philadelphia office as the head of the Special Projects for the Installations and Service Engineering Division. This led to a transfer to Schenectady, N.Y. where he led the development of the G.E. training programs for new field engineers and G.E. customer groups. He was the author of several books for customer training and contributed to the McGraw-Hill Maintenance Engineer s handbook.
He was a member of the Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers, a licensed professional engineer in the state of Ohio and the state of New York. Mr. Plumer enjoyed family vacations in Maine so he retired to Damariscotta in 1986 after 38 years of service to G.E. Company.
He became involved with service to the community through the Thanksgiving Basket Program of People to People and the Miles Hospital Rummage Sale, was a member of the Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club for several years, a trustee of the Second Congregational Church, and a member of the Tuesday Men s Lunch group and the Thursday Men s Lunch group.
His hobby of genealogy research for over 55 years kept him in touch with people across the country.
He and his wife of 60 years moved to Sun City Center, Fla. in October 2006.
Surviving him are his beloved wife, Marilen Tarleton Plumer; daughters, Carol Hess of Sun City Center, Fla. and Constance (John) Rhodes of Sarasota, Fla.; son, David (Kristine) W. Plumer, Jr. of Tokyo, Japan and Cape Cod, Mass.; grandchildren, Erica Hess of Austin Tex., Elizabeth (Russell) Rhodes Kral of Fort Mills, S.C., Geoffrey (Spring) Rhodes of Nevada, Andrew Rhodes of Atlanta, Ga., Bradford Plumer of Washington, D.C., Jeffrey Plumer of Davis, Cal., Alexander Plumer of Jacksonville, Fla., and Ashley Plumer of Colorado; and great-grandson, Tyler Rhodes of Henderson, Nev.
Memorial service for family members Dec. 23 at the United Community Church, Sun City Center, Fla. Burial will be at a later date at Hillside Cemetery, Damariscotta.
Arrangements are entrusted to the Sun City Center Funeral Home, 1851 Rickenbacker Dr., Sun City Center, Fla.
Should friends desire, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Salvation Army or a charity of their choice.
