GRAY – Carroll Kennedy, a retired service technician for All-Tech Weighing Systems in Portland who was considered the go-to guy for fixing anything, died on Sunday. He was 83.

Mr. Kennedy repaired mechanical scales for businesses across the state for 30 years. Edward Deveault, the owner of the company, said he was a master mechanic.

Toward the end of his career, many businesses had replaced their mechanical scales with electronic ones. Deveault said Mr. Kennedy was one of a handful of people in the state who knew how to fix the older scales. He retired from All-Tech in 1990.

“He was one of the best in the state at what he did,” Deveault said.

Mr. Kennedy grew up in East Machias and moved to Portland in 1948 to provide a better life for his family. He was married to June Kennedy for 62 years; they raised three children.

His wife said late Wednesday that she will miss him dearly.

“I’m just sad,” she said. “I feel lost.”

He was remembered by his family as an honest and hardworking man who valued the time he spent with his children. His daughter, Jane Wood of Machiasport, said he was gone for about three weeks every month for work but came home on weekends to be with the family.

“I don’t think he liked traveling too well, but that’s what it took,” his daughter said. “He was a great father. He would do anything for us.”

Mr. Kennedy maintained his connection with the Machias area. He built a cottage on Gardiner Lake, across from the home where he grew up.

In his early years, he maintained his father’s blueberry fields near the cottage and mowed other fields in the area. He also had a passion for hunting, fishing and driving his four-wheeler and snowmobile.

Wood said he looked forward to the annual family picnic at the cottage on the Fourth of July.

Mr. Kennedy also had a passion for tinkering. He worked on things ranging from old cars and tractors to radios. His daughter said he had four or five tractors.

“He would buy one, then another for parts,” she said. “He was a keeper. He never threw anything away. He saw something good in everything.”

For the past eight years, Mr. Kennedy struggled with Alzheimer’s. His wife took care of him until April, when the family moved him to St. Mary’s D’youville Pavilion in Lewiston. Even then, he still tried to tinker with his wheelchair, Wood said.

“It was hard for us to see him like that,” she said. “We (visited) almost every day. Sometimes he knew us and sometimes he didn’t. It’s a real tough one, but he’s in a better place.”

Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:

mcreamer@pressherald.com

 

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