FALMOUTH — Captain Charles Erling Lambert, 92, of Portland, died peacefully April 27 at Falmouth By the Sea, following a 10-year decline brought on by dementia.

On April 20, 1918, he was born in Portland, a son of Petra and Charles E Lambert, and was educated in Portland schools.

In July 1942 he married Arvilla May, and enjoyed 62 years with his wife until her death in 2004.

During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945, and participated in the battle of Iwo Jima and the occupation of Okinawa in 1945.

After he left the Navy, he worked on trawlers out of Boston and Rockland, and on an ocean tug out of New York City.

In 1972 he returned to Casco Bay and became the caretaker of Clapboard Island.

A lifelong lobsterman, he learned how to set traps at the age of 8, and hauled his last traps out of Casco Bay in 2005 at the age of 87.

He and his wife worked together as volunteers at the Food Bank on Preble Street in Portland and received numerous awards for their service.

For many years they spent winters in St. Petersburg, Fla., where they also worked at a local food bank.

Surviving are his three children, Charles E. Lambert, Jr., and his wife Mary of Oregon, Florence Roberts of Lewiston, and John D. Lambert and his wife Diane of South Carolina; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; a brother, Kermit Norman Lambert of Kennebunk; and his special cousin Peter Talbot of Salem, Mass.
 
The family would like to thank the staff at Falmouth By the Sea, Park Danforth and his guardian Gail Knowles.

A burial service was held May 3 at St. Luke’s Cathedral in Portland.

Arrangements are by Independent Death Care, 471 Deering Ave., Portland. 
   

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Lambert, Sr.