BAR HARBOR
John Coolidge Sweet, 93, died July 29, 2017, at his residence in Bar Harbor. He was born Dec. 20, 1923, in Hulls Cove, the son of Henry Colman and Lena Emily (Hoyt) Sweet Sr. on Elm Tree Dairy Farm, where the milking was done by hand. He is the last of his siblings: Jerome, Hoyt, Isabelle, William and Marcus.
He often told tales of life on the farm, with pigs escaping and horses pulling logs out of the woods to be used for the winter’s wood stove and cutting ice on Lakewood.
He left the farm, as so many young men did at that time, to join in the war effort. During the war, John was stationed in Dunkeswell in Devonshire, England, and flew in B24 Liberators from Murmansk, Russia, to Port Leodi, Africa, in search of Nazi U-boats with the VB103. He told a story of when on a weekend pass he experienced the Blitz in London, and had to run for the air raid shelters. He had left his dog tags on his bunk, and his family was just about to be notified he was MIA when he turned up alive and well for duty.
During the Korean War, he was called back into active duty. In the early 1950s, he was a member of the George Edwin Kirk Post 25 American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps. From 1943 until 1970, the Navy was his lifetime career. He spent time on the USNS Michelson, with the Oceanographic Detachment, mapping the North Atlantic sea bottom. Time was spent at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he revitalized the Boy Scout troop. He also was on the staff of Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force. He was proud of his top secret clearance and of being a courier for the U.S. Navy. John received many medals and commendations for his outstanding service.
In 1948, he married Geraldine Baker and started a family, raising two sons, John Jr. and David. They were together until her death in 2010.
After retiring from the Navy, he had the opportunity to manage the Jordan Pond House until moving on to the Kimball Terrace Inn in 1975. In 1977, he and Geraldine purchased the Harbourside Inn in Northeast Harbor. He was proud to spend time developing his cherished raised-bed organic garden at the curve of the road at Harbourside Inn. Green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, rhubarb, kale, lettuce and cucumbers, to name a few, were things grown in his small but intense garden. Naturally he was kept busy repairing and upgrading electrical, plumbing and the building itself at Harbourside Inn. Many passers-by, plus his children, learned all about composting, companion planting and French raised beds. “A Plan for a Wonderful Garden” was a talk he presented to the Woman’s Club of Northeast Harbor in 1996. Sharing his gardening knowledge was one of his favorite pastimes.
He is survived by his extended family: Son John and wife, Ann; Son David and wife, Gretchen. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren: John III and son Seth; Christine and husband, Steve Dmitrieff, and their children, Alex, Nicholas and Ivanna; Mike and children Kaden and Phoenix, and their mother, Heather Evans; Megan and husband, Ian Leies, and children Isaac and James; and many nieces and nephews.
A special thank you to all the caregivers who enabled John to die in the comfort of his own home: Megan Sweet, Christine Sweet, John Sweet III, John Sweet Jr., David Sweet, John Evans, Ruth Falt and Nurses Emma Lansing and Betty Mitchell. Also a thank you to Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County who supplied many nurses and volunteers.
A burial will be held Sept. 9, at 11 a.m., at Forest Hill Cemetery in Northeast Harbor. Donations can be made to either Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, 294 Crosby Brook Road, Unity, ME 04988 or Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County, 14 McKenzie Ave, Ellsworth, ME 04605.
Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St., Mount Desert. Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com.
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Darlene Louise Spencer (Moon), 58, of Ellsworth passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, after a battle with cancer. She was born in Ellsworth on Sept. 14, 1958, to Sylvia and Maurice Moon, who divorced shortly after. Sylvia remarried when Darlene was 2.
James Theodore Climo Sr., 74, died Monday, July 31, 2017, at his home in Penobscot after a courageous fight with cancer. Jim was born on Oct. 18, 1942, in Wakefield, Mass., the son of William and Eleanor Climo.
George E. Milliken Sr. passed away on Thursday, July 27, 2017, in Ellsworth. He was born in North Brooklin on Sept. 18, 1936, to William N. and Margaret E. (Giles) Milliken. He loved hunting, camping, country music, road trips and spending time with his family and friends. George worked many years for the state of Maine DOT and the city of Ellsworth school system until his retirement.
Richard Beebe Dudman, 99, newspaperman and editor for 76 years, died Aug. 3, 2017, at Parker Ridge in Blue Hill. He is survived by his wife, Helen Sloane Dudman; two daughters, Iris Dudman and Martha Dudman; four grandchildren: Georgia Howland, Richard Howland, Rosa Mayer and Lillian Mayer; and son-in-law Anthony Mayer.
Barbara E. (Perkins) Jones, 81, passed away Aug. 4, 2017, at her residence in Bucksport. She was born June 3, 1936, on Staten Island, N.Y., only daughter of James Perkins and Marguerite (Leiper) Perkins Rowe. Barbara graduated from George Stevens Academy in 1955, where she met her loving husband, Dana C. Jones. They were married October 1955 and raised their six children lovingly and unconditionally.
wing that a coasting trip from Texas, which included jumping into Portland Harbor on a dare (and getting out of the water as fast as possible) and a stop at Brewer, would be first glimpses of his last home state.
Lillian Marion Brodeur Wilbur died peacefully on Aug. 4, 2017. Lillian was born March 14, 1924, in Framingham, Mass., a daughter of Louis Albert and Emma Jane Scully Brodeur, one of 11 children.
Shirley O. Vaill, 82, died after a brief illness Aug. 6, 2017, at Shand’s Hospital, Gainesville, Fla. She was born July 30, 1935, in East Sullivan the daughter of Clifford and Ruby Robinson.
Wesley A. Shaw, 76, died on Aug. 13, 2017, at his home in Winter Harbor after battling diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Pick’s disease and kidney failure for many years. He was born in Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 24, 1941. He was a direct descendent of Mary Chilton, the first woman to step onto Plymouth Rock from the Mayflower in 1620. He was the great-great-great grandson of Frances Shaw, who owned much of the land now known as Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro. He was the eldest son of Malcolm Thoreau Shaw and Phyllis May Shaw, who spent the early years of his life growing up on the family’s tree and horse farm in the small farming town of Plympton, Mass., at the head of the Winnetuxet River and where the Plymouth Pilgrims grazed their cattle in the summers.
