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Richard Lee Desmarais

Richard Lee Desmarais, 82, beloved father, grandfather, and community member, died Oct. 25, 2024, in Belfast, Maine. He was a resident of Searsport, Maine, where he had lived for over 25 years.

Richard “Dick” Desmarais was born Nov. 19, 1941, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the youngest of nine children born to Hector and Margaret Desmarais. Mr. Desmarais graduated from Lowell High School in 1960 and served in the U.S. Army, Military Police Canine Unit, during the Vietnam War.

Following the war, he married his high school sweetheart, Alice Mae Woods, and moved to Westbrook, where they raised two daughters. Mr. Desmarais worked at Pratt & Whitney for 31 years. He was an EMT and CPR instructor and volunteered and served as a past president of the Westbrook Ambulance Association, vice president of the Valley Shore Mutual Aid Association, Special Deputy Sheriff in Middlesex County, and a unit representative for the Interstate Police Officers Association. He was also a charter member of the Westbrook Lions Club and a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society’s Road to Recovery. Mr. Desmarais was a hobby woodworker and made and sold wooden gifts and furniture throughout New England in his spare time.

In 1998, Mr. Desmarais retired to Searsport, Maine, where he continued his woodworking under the name Searsport Landing. He served on many Searsport town committees, was a town Selectman and author of the “Radio Searsport” newsletter for 15 years, and volunteered for the Searsport Fire Department. He served on the Penobscot Council of Governments and was instrumental in advocating for the naming of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge to promote the Penobscot River and Bay region. Mr. Desmarais’s love for the Midcoast and Downeast regions of Maine began as a young boy when he spent summers with his aunt and uncle digging clams on the shores of Castine.

In 2013, Mr. Desmarais started Searsport Flags, and for the next 10 years, Mr. Desmarais sold and distributed a variety of United States and other flags to towns and organizations around New England and throughout Maine. He looked forward to watching the annual Wreaths Across America Honor Fleet pass by his home on Main Street as it carried veterans’ wreaths down to Arlington, Virginia, every December.

Mr. Desmarais is survived by his daughter, Tricia Desmarais, and a grandson, Jaden Lee-Jeffrey Desmarais, both of South Pasadena, California, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, including his contemporary-nephew, Ronald Johnson of Madison, Maine. He was the father of the late Dawn Marie Desmarais of Searsport, Maine, and brother of the late Louise Johnson, Robert Desmarais, Edmond (Jim) Desmarais, Lucille Desmarais, Rita McDonald, Albert Desmarais, Agnes Adams, and Kenneth Desmarais.

Relatives and friends are invited to Mr. Desmarais’s visitation from 9 until 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the McKenna-Ouellette Funeral Home, 327 Hildreth Street, Lowell, Massachusetts. His burial will follow in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Chelmsford, MA. For condolences, please visit www.mckennaouellette.com.