People

Owen Haskell

Owen Haskell

| Obituary from Wilson Funeral Home |

NEW GLOUCESTER – Owen Haskell, 96, of New Gloucester, Maine, passed away at Strawberry Meadows Farm with his family by his side on December 26, 2024.

Owen was born on September 8, 1928, in Portland, Maine to Merrill and Grace Ware (Holbrook) Haskell, who lived at Gilman Manse on Route 88, Yarmouth, Maine. As a child he attended multiple schools including Waynflete, Underwood School, and Eaglebrook School, spending the summers at Camp Timanous in Raymond. He graduated high school from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA in 1946 and continued on to college at Yale University graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering in 1950.

His career started in Corvallis, OR working for Cornell, Hayes & Merryfield Consulting Engineers, but he was soon drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed at Fort Ord, CA and Fort Eustis, VA. He was honorably discharged as a Korean War Veteran in January 1952. After the Army, he returned to Maine where he worked in the construction field for Sanders Construction Corporation (1953–62) and Fred I. Merrill Construction (1962–64) which included several interesting projects: a dam on the Androscoggin River in Berlin, NH; Mason Station Unit 5 in Wiscasset; Wyman Station on Cousin’s Island in Yarmouth; the first electrically heated high school in Maine located in Bucksport; and the broadcast tower in Raymond which was the world’s tallest architectural structure at the time. In 1964 he founded Owen Haskell, Inc. Land Surveyors working as a land surveyor and civil engineer until he retired in 1989. Noteworthy projects he completed while in private practice include surveying for Jordan Marsh at the Maine Mall (1968-70), survey layout for Portland Jetport runway expansions (1967- 1980’s), layout for the Cumberland County Civic Center in 1975-76, and layout for the I-95 expansion between Millinocket and Houlton (1977-78). Owen Haskell, Inc. Surveyors remains in business today and is based in Falmouth.

Owen was an expert outdoorsman and enjoyed hiking, mountain biking, cross country skiing, camping, canoeing, and fly fishing. He took many canoe trips with his family and friends to the Allagash and St. John Rivers between 1940-1990. Owen was inspired by his Great Uncle William Brooks Cabot, who explored Labrador and documented his adventures in the book In Northern Labrador (1912), making four canoe trips to Labrador between 1989–92. He introduced the outdoors to his children taking them on hikes in the White Mountains and numerous “blueberry expeditions” on the Baldface Circle Trail in Evans Notch. Other memorable trips included Isle Au Haut with his wife Jean in 1974, Mt Jefferson with his wife Beryl in 1991, and a week in the Wind River Range, Wyoming with his son Will in 1982.

Owen was an avid skier from age 4 into his 70’s. He learned ski jumping at age 11, was a member of the Yale downhill ski team from 1949-50, was a member of the Sugarloaf Ski Club, and competed in downhill and slalom races between 1953-58. In 1984 he started competitive cross-country skiing and participated in citizen races throughout New England until 2005. He also raced in five World Masters competitions, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 70–75 age group at the 1999 World Masters in Grindelwald, Switzerland.

In 1971, Owen and his family moved from South Freeport to Strawberry Meadows Farm in New Gloucester, adding farming chores to his daily work. Every summer two or more weeks were dedicated to cutting and baling hay for the animals. Owen also planted a large vegetable garden and many battles were waged against the critters that liked the garden as much as he did. Elaborate flashing light systems, electric fences, radios, and even sleeping out next to the sweet corn patch were some of the methods he employed to try and save the sweet corn from the raccoons. In 1991 Owen designed and constructed a timber framed barn using a handmade gin pole to lift the beams into position. His timber frame barn housed a woodshop where he made many projects that are cherished by his friends and family.

Owen was predeceased by his sister, Lucy Brooks Haskell (d. 2006), three spouses, Suzanne King Chatellier (d. 1961), Jean Elise (Ackerman) Schwarz (d. 1980), and Beryl Louise (Oliver) Manson (d. 2010), his daughter Willow Ann Schwarz (d. 2017), and most recently his grandson Herb M. Hyder (d. 2024). He is survived by two daughters, Amy L. Schwarz of Valemount, British Columbia, Canada and Margaret M. Haskell of New Gloucester; his son and daughter-in-law, William C. and Veronica M. Haskell of Raymond; his three grandsons, Ray O. Hyder and Joseph J.A. Hyder of British Columbia, Canada, and Jack C. Haskell of Biddeford; and a niece and three nephews.

His friends describe Owen as resilient, kind, respected, stoic, independent, generous, and smart. The family expresses their gratitude to his many neighbors who would stop in to say hello and visit, and especially to Tim and Marie Reimensnyder who assisted Owen with many projects around the farm and invited him to dinner on many occasions. The family expresses heartfelt thanks to Tim Reimensnyder and Sandy Crowell who provided part-time home health care during the past year, and to Barb Ames for cooking Saturday night suppers for many years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made to The Carter Center, Andwell Home Healthcare (formerly Androscoggin Home Healthcare), Natural Resources Council of Maine, or a charity of your choosing in honor of his memory.

A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2025, 10 am to 1 pm at Pineland Farms, The Commons – Mount Washington Room.

Read the obituary at this link