Peter Arnold Russell, 79, of Damariscotta passed away on March 21 at his home.
Born in Evanston, Ill. on June 4, 1927, Peter was the son of Sid and Ysobel Russell.
After graduating from Lincoln Academy in 1945 as Valedictorian, he attended the Maine Maritime Academy and earned his degree in 1947 when all the graduates declared, “We went to heaven in ’47.”
Peter then joined the U.S. Navy and served on the U.S.S. Bennington and later, on the U.S.S. Ticonderoga. After leaving the Navy he attended the University of Maine at Orono where he studied English. Even later, he served many years in the Merchant Marines as Third Mate, where he traveled the world over.
Peter was influenced by the ocean at a very young age. His father would rent him a sailboat during summers spent in South Bristol, where he would sail the morning’s breeze through the Gut and out into John’s Bay, returning late in the day when the wind turned.
Peter’s time served in the Merchant Marines sustained that love for the ocean as he traveled the world. He especially loved his travels to India and the Middle East, the Muldive Islands and throughout the Mediterranean. An accomplished chef, each time he arrived back home from shipping out, he always prepared and served to his family the international cuisines of the places he visited.
An avid reader himself, Peter also read the Horatio Hornblower series to his infant grandson, Isaac. He enjoyed gardening, cooking, the daily crossword puzzle from the Portland Press Herald, Round Pond Harbor, baseball, and most of all, jazz. He liked to walk and was named Volunteer of the Year in his fitness club, the Central Maine Striders. Peter had a clean, musical whistle, a great laugh, and a wonderful singing voice.
He was a committed progressive, subscribing to The Nation, Mother Jones, the Jim Hightower Newsletter and the ACLU. He used his vote to end the Iraq War and also to take care of America’s people in need. Peter was concerned with local issues, too, supporting the Our Town campaign in Damariscotta to stop big box development, and protesting in Warren against the widening of Route 1.
In addition to his parents, Peter was predeceased by his sister, Marcia Lee Page.
He is survived by his brother, Christopher Britain Russell of Damariscotta; first cousins, Boblyn White of Florida and Robert Ernest Ricksen of California; niece, Gail Page of Portland; nephews, Bobby and David Page of Atlanta, Ga., and Damariscotta; respectively, his former wife, Carolyn Dolbear of Round Pond; children, Liza Russell of Solon, Lynn Russell Kalloch, Adam Lee Russell of Round Pond, Amanda Russell of Edgecomb, Joshua Arnold Russell of Damariscotta, and Hannah Russell Laday of Metuchen, N.J.; grandchildren, Carolyn Lane Kalloch, Luke Johnson Kalloch, Jubal Russell Ashlen Horton, Issac Yates Russell, Thomas Joseph Abello, and Peter Andrew Abello; and one great-grandchild, Hazel Jamison Abello.
A memorial service will be held in late summer, when his ashes will be thrown to the wind over the Atlantic Ocean.
