The son of Alfred J. and Julia Pinette Coulombe, Al was born in the Bronx, New York, on March 16, 1932. At the age of 8 he moved from the Bronx to Brunswick, Maine. He was a graduate of St. John’s School, Brunswick High School, and the University of Maine at Orono.
After graduating from Orono, Al worked for a large paper company performing large-scale inventory surveys in northern and eastern Maine, Quebec, and the Maritimes. He married Bernadette Soucy on April 7, 1956, at St. Joseph’s Church in Lewiston, Maine. Al then moved his young family to Saco, Maine, in 1960, and joined Neil M. Dow at Libby & Dow, a land surveying and engineering business. He purchased the company from Mr. Dow in 1967, renaming it Dow & Coulombe Inc., a family owned business to this day.
Al was a founding member and one-term president of the Maine Society of Land Surveyors. He was a New England delegate to the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping, achieving the rank of “Fellow.” He served as York County and court surveyor, and served eight years on the Maine State Board of Licensure for Land Surveyors, and acted as the chairman for several years. Under his term as chairman, Maine adopted its first set of professional and technical standards for professional land surveyors. He was a collaborator with the National Geodetic Society and served as a corporator on the Board of the Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution.
Al served on several local committees including the Saco Sewer Advisory Committee, the Saco Planning Board, the River Dredging and Parks Committee, and served several years as a Camp Ellis volunteer fireman. He enjoyed family and all things outdoors, including fishing and golf and was a member of the Biddeford Saco Country Club. An avid sports fan, he especially loved hockey and his favorite team, the Boston Bruins.
He is survived by: his wife, Bernadette Soucy Coulombe; two sons, Mark and his wife, Holly, of North Berwick; and Michael and his wife, Cindy, of Saco; four daughters, Marybeth Varney and her husband, Mark, of Millinocket, Annette Coulombe and her partner, Debra Peters, of Poland, Angela Coulombe and her husband, Andrew Woznica, of Saco, and Patricia Cook and her husband, Kevin, of Livermore Falls; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. One brother, Louis, and his wife, Alice, of New City, New York, also survive him.
Viewing hours are Tuesday, June 6, 2017, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Cote Funeral Home, 87 James St., Saco, Maine. A funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, June 7, 2017, at 10 a.m. at St. Margaret’s Parish, 6 Saco Ave., Old Orchard Beach, Maine, followed by burial services at Laurel Hill Cemetery, 293 Beach St., Saco, Maine.
Donations may be made in his memory to the Saco Food Pantry, 7 Ocean Park Road, Saco, Maine.
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