WINTER HARBOR
Neil Thomas Buffett went to meet his Lord on Feb. 14, 2019, after a period of declining health. He was born April 6, 1930, in Medford, Mass., to Stanley and Ada (Scott) Buffett, who had emigrated from Newfoundland, Canada, to the United States. The family lived in Medford, Mass., during Neil’s school years and then moved to New Hampshire, where he graduated from the University of New Hampshire. After graduation, he joined the United States Navy. The Navy took Neil to Winter Harbor, where he spent a number of years on the naval base at Schoodic Point. In his search for local lodging, he took a room with one of the local families, and met his future wife, Janet Gerrish, whom he married Sept. 3, 1955.
After his Navy days, Neil and his new wife, Janet, made the trek back to New Hampshire, where Neil worked for many years in banking, eventually becoming vice president and treasurer of Sugar River Savings Bank in Newport, N.H. When he left banking in the mid-1980s, he spent a short few years in industry working as the chief financial officer at Calley and Currier, “the crutch factory,” in Bristol, N.H., until he retired in the early 1990s. Soon after he and Janet moved back to Maine, a place Neil had come to call home.
He participated in his true passion, which was service to his Lord, by taking on many lay preacher duties and as much civic duty as he could muster in Winter Harbor and Gouldsboro, which included Freemasonry and volunteering at the Winter Harbor Historical Society, where he was the president for some time. He was an early adopter of computers and the internet, utilizing the latter to pursue his keen interest in genealogy. Neil and Janet were fortunate to be able to travel, seeing Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.
Neil was predeceased by younger brother Gerald, a son, James Buffett, and many years ago infant daughter Lisa. He is survived by his wife, Janet, daughter Barbara Parssinen and her husband, T., and grandchildren Alyssa Parssinen and Brooks Parssinen of New Hampshire, daughter Mary Kachoris of Winter Harbor, grandson Adam Kachoris, his fiancée Amy and their son Mason, Neil’s first great-grandchild, all of New Hampshire, and of course, his devoted dog Phoenix.
A Masonic memorial service will be planned for spring.