During his lifetime, John L. Schoepfle created hundreds of watercolor paintings that are on display in homes and businesses across Maine and the nation.

He also was a founding member of the Art Guild of the Kennebunks, a juried art group that displays works at various venues throughout the year.

And he kept painting right up until his death at the age of 94.

Mr. Schoepfle, a longtime resident of Kennebunk, died Tuesday at St. Andre Health Care in Biddeford after a brief illness.

“He painted all his life. He was very prolific,” said his grandson, Norm Archer of Kennebunkport.

Mr. Schoepfle was born in Sandusky, Ohio, the son of Henry and Elsie Schoepfle.

He studied architecture and painting at the Cleveland School of Art and later taught adult education in the Los Angeles school system.

It was during a painting class that he met his future wife, Nadine, an aspiring artist and student. They were married in 1973 in Laguna Beach, Calif., when he was 56, his grandson said.

In 1976, the couple drove across the country in their Pontiac sedan to Kennebunk, where they settled on Summer Street. They lived there for 34 years.

The Schoepfles owned and operated the Harbor House Gallery in Kennebunkport’s Lower Village for 18 years. They displayed their own watercolor and oil paintings and never hired anyone to help run the business.

Archer remembers the gallery as being a robust, lively place where spring gallery openings were much anticipated.

“I can remember uncorking wine and champagne bottles at their openings when I was 8 years old,” Archer said.

After they sold the gallery, the couple continued to show their paintings — Mr. Schoepfle specialized in watercolors; his wife did oil paintings — at other galleries in the area.

His grandson said Mr. Schoepfle was particularly adept at painting architectural structures.

“His watercolors were outstanding, very precise, expressive drawings,” said Ann Legg, a member of the Art Guild of the Kennebunks. “He was wonderful to be with, always a gentleman, with a lot of humor, whimsy and class.”

Archer said his grandfather also loved to garden. He spent hours tending the flowers in his manicured rock garden. He’d wear a white button-down shirt, necktie and sweater vest while gardening.

Archer said his grandfather never retired his paint brush. He had painted for years in a studio on the third floor of his home, but when he got older, he retrofitted a second-floor bedroom to become his studio.

Each Christmas, he would paint and send out about 50 Christmas cards to friends and relatives.

“It was big production,” Archer said.

His final piece, Archer said, was true to form: a hand-drawn and painted Christmas card.

Archer said he will miss his grandfather, who he described as “a real gentleman who never raised his voice and would seldom curse.”

“He was an unbelievable person to sit and talk to. He could describe things to me in vivid detail that happened when he was boy,” Archer said. “You feel there just aren’t many people like him anymore.” 

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at: dhoey@pressherald.com