Richard “Dick” Beston Day, 92, passed away July 27. Born May 26, 1920 under the care of his grandfather, Dr. Eugene A. Darling, in Cambridge, Mass. He was the tenth generation of ‘Days’ in the U.S. Dick was the son of Maurice E. “Jake” Day and Beatrice Darling Day, and as an infant came to the Day family homestead on the Bristol Road in Damariscotta where he grew up.
He attended several schools, including the Castner Grammar School in Damariscotta, Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, Laguna Beach and Hollywood High schools in California, the University of Maine at Orono, plus graduate studies at University of Massachusetts, Cornell University, Virginia Polytechnic, and the University of Maine.
He was a veteran, serving in the Infantry and Quartermaster Corp. for five and one half years during and following WWII, attaining the rank of Major before accepting an Honorable Discharge from active duty in the military. He saw service in France, Germany and Czechoslovakia in Europe, Tokyo, Japan and the Island of Guam in the Pacific.
For a time he was employed at Round Top Dairy in Damariscotta, and the Newcastle Grain Company in Newcastle and Waldoboro. He was also self-employed in the production of poultry eggs for hatching, and later ran a general farm supply business in Damariscotta. He also served as a Deputy Sheriff with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Dept.
He was sought after to accept a position as a County Extension Agent with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service. In this position, he first served Washington County, then Franklin County. After 27 years, he accepted a well-earned retirement which he enjoyed to the fullest.
A lifelong lover of nature, woodcraft and gardening, he spent many hours in each of these pursuits. This included wilderness camping in Baxter State Park, along with volunteer trail grooming. For a time he did seasonal craft work with his father Maurice “Jake” Day in the “Whittle Shop” in Damariscotta. In this same line of work, he was engaged in a public television series on the gathering, preparation and use of both fresh water and salt-water driftwood as a craft component. He authored and illustrated an Extension publication on driftwood. As for gardening, this included growing vegetables, perennials and most recently, assisting his wife Barbara in an extensive medicinal herb garden when they lived in Newcastle, as well as volunteering in gardens at favorite retreat centers.
Additional favorite pursuits included extensive family genealogy research, as well as writing general local community history. He was a founding member of the Damariscotta Historical Society and had served as president and historian.
He was predeceased in 1998 by his wife of 54 years, Ruth Knowlton Day, the mother of his children.
He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Barbara Damon-Day of Nobleboro; son, Richard Mclure Day and fiancée Leslie Koschmann of Nashua, N.H.; daughter, Drucilla Day Beal and husband Richard Beal of Woolwich; grandchildren, Kristen Cowing and husband Timothy, Nathan Jones and wife Alice, Kelly League and husband Brandon, Tami Day and significant other Michael Reardon, Hannah Day, Mikayla Damon, and Jan-Christian Damon; eleven great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
Dick wanted a celebration of his life while he was living, which was held in July of 2009 at the Living Water Spiritual Retreat Center in Winslow. Burial following cremation and a graveside service will be 1:30 p.m., Sun., Aug. 5 at the Hillside Cemetery on Church Street in Damariscotta.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Damariscotta Historical Society Cemetery Fund, P.O. Box 1154, Damariscotta, ME 04543.
Condolences, and messages for the family, may be expressed by visiting www.StrongHancock.com.
Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main St., Damariscotta.
