BRUNSWICK — Herman J. Boudreau (Pepere), CMS Army Ret., died peacefully on Sunday, April 7, 2013, after a brief illness, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born in Waterville on January 20, 1920 to Richard and Lucie Boudreau of Waterville and attended local schools there. As a teenager, he worked as a lumberjack, hauling logs in Rumford, and on highway construction crews from Waterville to Augusta. At the age of 17, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in Craig, Colorado, building roads and bridges across the country.

On Christmas Day 1941, he entered the United States Army, attending basic training at Camp Drum, NY and later infantry training at Ft. Benning, Georgia. During World War II, while attached to the 103 Infantry, 43rd Division, 2nd Battalion, he was stationed in New Zealand and the South Pacific. Herman spent 27 months in the South Pacific, hopping from Island to Island, fighting the Japanese resistance.

His first action was at Guadal Canal where he received the Bronze Star. He was later wounded and received the Purple Heart. After recovering from his injuries, he was sent to New Caledonia and continued on to New Georgia where he earned a Silver Star for leading a tank while under fire. He rose through the ranks to the position of Command Sergeant Major of the Maine Army National Guard, retiring in 1967 after 27 years of service to his country.

Throughout his youth and military service, Herman was an avid amateur boxer. He logged five wins as a middleweight fighter, later spending years as a boxing trainer in several area gyms and the Brunswick Naval Air Station.

After returning from World War II, he joined the Maine State Police on December 23, 1945. For most of his career, he was assigned to the Highway Safety Program where he travelled throughout the state of Maine conducting highway safety presentations to nearly every middle, high school, college and military campus. He was an instructor at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, teaching riot control and self-defense. He retired at the rank of Sergeant in 1967. In 1965 he was awarded the very first Trooper of the Year award and was later honored with a Legendary State Trooper award in 1987 for his career-long achievements and his legacy.

After retiring from the State Police and the Maine Army National Guard, he assisted his wife for several years before becoming the Chief of Police in Freeport, Maine. He later owned and operated Boudreau’s Courier and Security Agency, providing armed bank delivery and commercial security services in the Brunswick and Bath areas.

In 1987, he and his wife, Nancie, moved to Brooklyn, New York and served in a shelter for homeless men for two years. Upon their return to Maine in 1989, he helped his wife as she ran the Three Little Bears Nursery School until 2010. He will be lovingly remembered as Mr. Policeman and Pepere to the more than 5,000 children who attended the nursery school over its 48-year existence.

He was pre-deceased by his parents, his brothers Richard, Dominic and Dennis and his sister, Katherine Sirois, and his grandson Aaron Boudreau.

He is survived by the love of his life, the former Nancie B. Daigle to whom he was married for 54 years. In addition, he is survived by his four children, Marc Nichols and his wife Marilyn of Grass Valley, CA, Herman J. Boudreau II (Buddy) and his wife Deidre of Kingfield, ME, Nancie Smith and the late Thomas Smith of Brunswick, ME, and Armand and his partner Renee Masillam of St. Petersburg, FL, his loving granddaughters Theresa Bayha and her husband Todd of Wells, ME and Ann Day of Bonair, GA, great grandson, Kaleb Day of Bonair, GA., his sisters Marguerite Bouchard and the late John Bouchard, Therese Turlo and Cecile Butler and the late Walter Butler, as well as many nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, friends and former colleagues.

Visiting hours will be held Wednesday, April 10, 2013, from 2-4 pm and 6-9 pm at Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal St., Brunswick. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, April 11, 2013, at 10:00 am at St. John the Baptist Church, Pleasant Street, Brunswick. Burial with military honors will follow at the Maine Veteran’s Cemetery, Mount Vernon Road in Augusta, Maine.