Brian McBride 80, of Kennebunk, beloved husband of Gloria McBride, passed away peacefully with his wife and family by his side on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022. Born on a Monday, Jan. 12 1942, to Rodney and Lucille ( Dresser) McBride, Brian grew up on High Street in Kennebunk and graduated from Kennebunk High School in 1960.
Following graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served four years in the Mediterranean and in Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis aboard the U.S.S. Neosho.
Following his Navy enlistment, Brian worked at Keuffel & Esser Company on Water Street before starting his landscaping, property management business. In 1982, Brian became a rural mail carrier for the U.S. Post Office delivering the mail throughout the Goose Rocks Beach area and Kennebunkport, making many friends and retiring after 25 years of service.
Brian was a storyteller and had a regular repertoire that many of his family and friends had heard many times. He wrote his stories down in notepads and submitted several to the local paper over the years. He was a historian of Kennebunk and told the quintessential tales of a young boy growing up in the ’50s in small town America.
He was proud of his service to our country and he expressed it through tirelessly organizing Kennebunk’s Memorial Day Parade, marking gravestones at our cemeteries with flags, and serving at the Webber-Lefebvre American Legion Post 74.
Brian was very proud of his home and loved working in his yard and his woods. He proudly heated his home with wood for his entire life and could find wood to cut into fuel almost anywhere he went, earning him the nickname “The Wood Hawk.” Brian was a generous and kind man who loved helping others.
Brian is survived by his wife of 59 years, Gloria, two sons, Brian Jr. and his wife, Pennie, of Kennebunk, Joel and his wife, Carrie, of Salida, Colorado, granddaughters, Marlje, Jane, and Ruth, a sister Carla Mitchell of Kennebunk, a niece and five nephews.
Brian was predeceased by his parents, Rodney and Lucille McBride, his sister, Katherine Hubbell, and two nephews.
A private memorial service will be held at a later date.
Memorial donations can be made to the Webber-Lefebrve American Legion Post 74, 15 Water St., Kennebunk, ME 04043.
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