SACO – On Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, we lost our dad and best friend, Keith Sheridan Whitmore, 89, due to Covid-19 at Southern Maine Health Care in Biddeford.

Keith was born Oct. 18, 1931, in Otis, Maine, one of 10 children born to Orion and Mercy (Garland) Whitmore. Dad attended the one-room grade school in Otis with his sisters and graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1949. He married Charlene Lillian Holmes from Hulls Cove in 1952.

He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict spending his service time in Germany. After the service, Dad furthered his education at Coyne Electric in Connecticut. Keith worked for Coyne Electric and E.W. Bliss as a foreman and finished his working career at West Point Stevens (The Pepperell) as the Assistant Plant Engineer. He loved his work and the people he worked with at ‘The Pepperell’ and organized numerous fishing trips in Alaska, Quebec and Maine with the guys

Dad loved to fish and we spent many days fishing for trout, salmon, smelt and stripers. He was there when his grandson, Ben caught a 30” striper on a Mickey Mouse Zebco rod and reel at the age of 4 and the day of his son Mark’s 60th birthday when we caught 180 stripers in three hours.

In addition to fishing, Dad enjoyed hunting. For years he and his buddy, Dr. Pat Shaw, would travel to Labrador to hunt geese. He was also there when the same grandson, Ben, shot his first big game animal, a 708-pound moose. Keith also enjoyed skiing until his 70th birthday, and playing golf. He and his sons had memberships to the Biddeford Saco Country Club and golfed together for years.

Dad also liked to travel and enjoyed many trips through Central and South America, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, Canada, the British Isles, Italy, France and Germany. Dad also loved his family and would reach out with a phone call or visit his brother and sisters on a regular basis. He stayed in touch with numerous nieces and nephews and was always there for us. Cocktails and visits were a regular ritual, and he was always ready to plan the next adventure. He was a glass half full kind of guy and just a joy to be with.

In addition to his parents, Keith was predeceased by two infant brothers, one unnamed and Orion Joseph; his brother, Earl; his sisters, Hope, Marilyn ‘Joanne’, Marilea ‘Dianne’ and Pat; and most recently, his second wife, Jan Henderson. Each loss took a toll on dad, but Jan’s death was by far the hardest.

Keith is lovingly remembered by his daughter, Lisa Ronco and her husband, Ronnie, of Saco; his son, Doug Whitmore and his wife, Kimberly, of Kennebunk and Mark Whitmore and his wife, Martha, of Saco; four grandchildren, Mark Jr. and his wife, Shital, of North Reading, Mass., Kyle Whitmore and his wife, Elizabeth, of Jacksonville, Fla., Ben Whitmore and his fiancé, Sarah Benton, of Rochester, N.H. and Elizabeth Whitmore, of Cockeysville, Md.; two great-grandchildren, Jackson and Mason; his sisters, Katherine Paine and Dawn Partridge; and many nieces and nephews.

Following Dad’s wishes, interment at the Southern Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery will be private.

Keith’s family would like to express their gratitude to the doctors and staff at both Seal Rock Health Care and Southern Maine Health Care for the tremendous care and comfort they provided for our dad and to all the family and friends that have reached out to us during this most tender of times.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit Keith‘s Book of Memories Page at http://www.bibberfuneral.com

Arrangements are in care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 67 Summer Street, Kennebunk, Maine 04043.

In lieu of flowers and following dad’s wishes and example, please call your family and friends and let them know how important they are in your life, or better yet, drop in and visit with them and invite them over for a cookout.

Copy the Story Link