BOWDOIN — A. Gardner Larrabee, age 89, of Parkway, passed away Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, at his home.
He was born on Feb. 13, 1925, in Beverly, Mass., the son of Arthur and Martha (Dodge) Larrabee. He married Priscilla Carter (Larrabee), also of Beverly, on Sept. 9, 1948, and was her devoted husband until she passed away on Sept. 1, 1997. He is also pre-deceased by a sister, Dorothy (Larrabee) Woodbury.
Gardner attended Beverly schools and Bryant College in Boston.
During World War II he served in the U.S. Army as a radioman in the Pacific, and was in training for the invasion of Japan as the war ended.
When he came home from the war, he purchased Larrabee’s Supermarket in Beverly from his father, and owned it for 16 years, selling it in 1960.
He moved the family to Maine in 1968 while working for Cain’s, and in 1970, bought a Pepperidge Farm distributorship, which he owned until retirement.
Gardner was a member and a past deacon of the Second Baptist Church in Bowdoinham. He loved big band jazz, and was himself an accomplished jazz trombonist in his younger days. He was an avid fisherman and golfer, and a faithful fan of Boston sports teams. Most of all he was a “family man.” Priscilla, David and Diane were his world and he was a devoted husband and father.
On May 17, 1998, he married the former Hope Jellison Temple, and she stood lovingly and faithfully by his side to the end of his days.
Besides his wife, Hope Temple/Larrabee, he is survived by a son, David Gardner Larrabee of Windham; a daughter, Diane Carter Larrabee of Brunswick; grandson, Thatcher Carter Larrabee of Bowdoinham; granddaughter, Eliza DeFreitas of Brunswick; greatgrandson, Quentin DeFreitas; niece, Karen Woodbury Johnson and her children, grand-nephew David and grand-niece Wendy; nephew, Peter Woodbury and his children, grand-niece Hannah and grand-nephew Graham; four stepsons; two stepdaughters in-law; 10 stepgrandchildren; and 14 stepgreat grandchildren.
A private burial will occur at Bay View Cemetery in Bowdoinham. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 9, 1 p.m., at Stetson’s Funeral Home, 12 Federal St., Brunswick. Memorial condolences may be expressed at stetsonsfuneralhome.com.
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