Stanley Goodwin French, 76, of Round Pond, Isle au Haut, and Rumford, died peacefully on Oct. 21 at the Rumford Hospital with his loving family by his side.
Stanley was born in Weston, Mass. on May 17, 1935, and was the son of Stanley Goodwin French and Mary Hubbard French.
Stanley attended Meadowbrook, The Cambridge School of Weston, and graduated from Choate. He served in the Army for four years and then received his BA and MA from Boston University. He went on to receive his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His doctoral thesis was on the history of cemeteries in the United States. From 1967 to 1979 he was a professor of American Intellectual and Social History at California State University Northridge. He believed strongly in the importance of upkeep and preservation of cemeteries for their historical value and served as a board member of the Muscongus Cemetery Association.
He spent summers on Isle au Haut from the time he was a child. When he married, he continued to summer there. After leaving California, the family settled in Round Pond on the coast of Maine.
He was predeceased by his sister, Anne Elizabeth (Betty) Jacobs.
Stanley was married on Aug. 26, 1961 to Susannah Sewall Alden who survives him. He is also survived by his children, Jennifer French Foster and husband Henry (Hank) of Rumford, and Aaron French of Portland; grandchildren, Sara Mae Parlin and Thomas Willard Parlin of Rumford; sister, Katherine Lyon French of Cambridge, Mass.; and nieces and nephews of whom he was very fond.
Friends are invited to sign the family guest book and share their condolences and memories online at www.meaderandson.com.
Celebration of his life 11 a.m., Sat., Nov. 12 at the United Methodist Church, 1418 State Rte 32, Round Pond, with Reverend Julia Wilson officiating.
Memorial donations would be welcomed by Muscongus Cemetery Association, PO Box 262, Round Pond, ME 04564.
Arrangements are under the care of the Meader & Son Funeral Home, 3 Franklin St., Rumford.
