BIDDEFORD — Roland J. Hotte Jr., 91, peacefully succumbed April 29 at the Maine Medical Center in Portland after a brief illness.

He was born in Biddeford on April 8, 1923, the son of Roland J. Hotte Sr. and Florence Browne Hotte.

He attended schools there, graduating from Biddeford High School in 1941. Roland was class president for four years, participated in drama and tennis, and played the violin superbly.

In 1943, he started serving his country in The Army Air Force and received training as a navigator on aircraft.

Discharged in 1946, Roland resumed his education at the University of New Hampshire and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, married Elaine Benton, a nurse, and then attended the Bentley School of Accounting in Boston.

Roland was employed by several national corporations including Campbell Soups, RCA and Ford Motors. Eventually returning to Biddeford, he started a real estate business, participated in the Masons, worked with his dad at Samson Supply, and later managed the desk and resided at The Thacher Hotel. As his health faded, Roland resided for many years at The Portland Center for Assisted Living and more recently at Seaside.

He was preceded in death by: a son, Stephen.

Surviving family includes: one son, William Warren Hotte and his wife Tess and her son Keanu and his former wife Elaine, all of Lawrence, Mass.; a sister, Evelyn Fendersen of Scarborough; and his brother, Richard of Poland.

His family profoundly appreciates the skilled and compassionate care he received in those facilities and at MMC’s EMG and CICU departments just before his death. A family friend, Judy Ottley of Bridgton, also deserves special thanks for her numerous calls, visits and participation with his birthday celebrations in recent years.

A family service at his grave site in Biddeford is planned for June 12. Condolences may be forwarded to the Dolby Funeral Home in Windham.