Gilman Bertrand Whitman, 88, of South Paris, passed on peacefully on March 17 at the Veteran’s Home in South Paris. He was born in Portsmouth, N.H. on Oct. 26, 1926 to Gerald Bertrand and Jessie Veasey Whitman.
He was at Essex Agricultural Institute in Danvers, Mass. majoring in Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture when he was drafted on his birthday in 1944 but they deferred him for four months to finish his course. He graduated at the top of his class.
He was inducted into the Armed Services at Fort Williams and then shipped to Fort Devens in Massachusetts. He had advanced infantry training and was in the South Pacific during WWII. He was the Provost Sergeant in a stockade in Leyte supervising Japanese prisoners of war. He was discharged in 1946.
Gil returned to Maine in the spring of 1947. He worked in the woods and in a saw mill in Bryant Pond. He bought a house in Bryant Pond in 1948 and built a ski tow in 1949. He purchased a store from Ray Langway in Locke Mills in 1949 and also married Elizabeth Noyes of Locke Mills that year. They sold the store in 1953.
In 1953 they purchased some land on Rt. 26 in Bryant Pond and built the Maine Wild Life Den and filled it with animals, birds and reptiles.
He served as deputy sheriff of Oxford County serving in the court room at South Paris. He served as State Representative in the 99th Legislature in 1958-61. He was majority floor leader for the 100th Legislature.
In the 1960s he was a member of the Balladeers Barber Shop Quartet and they sang throughout the state.
He was Oxford County Agent for the 4-H Clubs and traveled all over the state and enjoyed working with the young people.
He worked as a carpenter, electrician and learned blacksmithing for a few years. Liz was an RN and worked in the hospitals and did private duty. In 1964 they bought a house in Edgecomb and relocated there. He did renovations there and opened The Yankee Craftsman and the Lincoln Forge. One of his first commissions was a very large gate for an ancient cemetery in Bristol.
His first exposure on the international scene was Expo 67 at the World’s Fair in Montreal. He had his first one man show in Pittsburg, Penn. at the International Art Gallery in October 1970.
He did the wrought iron handrails in Wiscasset, many weathervanes, and small bronzes of hockey players. He was commissioned by the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team for a life size reenactment of a goalie scoring called Score. It was outside the Spectrum Stadium in Philadelphia, Penn. in 1976.
He changed the name of his gallery from Yankee Craftsman to Gil Whitman Gallery in 1977 where he displayed his many ornamental sculptures on his lawn.
He did many line sculptures for area churches, chandeliers, lights and 3D relief work. He did the bronze wild flower collection for the blind complete with earphones for descriptions.
He did the Tiger Swallowtail which is now in front of the Whitman Library in Bryant Pond and the final big one, the Candlestick phone at the Remembrance Park in Bryant Pond in 2008. Gil moved back to Bryant Pond in 1998.
Gil was a member of Jackson Silver American Legion, Jefferson Chapter Masons and the Locke Mills Union Church.
He is survived by his nieces, Deb Hays and Sandy Whitman; nephews, Gerald Bertrand Macaulay and William Arthur Macaulay; grand-nephews, Aaron, David, Jesse and Mathew Macaulay, and Michael Albano; and grand-niece, Amy Albano.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Sat., May 16 at the Locke Mills Union Church in Greenwood.
Donations may be made to the Whitman Library, 28 S Main St., Bryant Pond, ME 04219 or the Remembrance Park, Town Office, Bryant Pond, ME 04219.
Condolences can be expressed at www.chandlerfunerals.com.
Arrangements are in the care of Chandler Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, 45 Main St., South Paris.
