Obituary: Wilfred “Willie” Coolidge
POLAND - Wilfred “Willie” Coolidge passed away quietly at home on April 10, 2021, after a brief illness, surrounded by those .
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Wilfred “Willie” Coolidge
POLAND – Wilfred “Willie” Coolidge passed away quietly at home on April 10, 2021, after a brief illness, surrounded by those who loved him dearly.
Willie was born on Oct. 21, 1924, the second of what was to be seven children. He loved sports and while at Bethel’s Gould Academy played football, basketball, and baseball. Willie continued with Legion Baseball playing second base for years after his service in the U.S. Navy was completed.
Hearing his Nation’s call, Willie enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 18, where he was selected to attend radio school in Boston and was assigned to the U.S. 7th Beach Battalion. Willie participated in the June 6, 1944 landings on Omaha Beach in Northern France. His battalion’s role was to establish and maintain shore-to-ship
Bedside table: A terrific novel and a terrific memoir, both about life in Maine
This Mainer is reading, and enjoying, books by Maine literary royalty - Monica Wood and Richard Russo.
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“I have just finished reading ‘When We Were the Kennedys’ by Monica Wood. It is an enthralling look at growing up in a Maine mill town, Mexico, host to the famous Oxford Paper mill. I chose this book partly due to recommendations, and partly due to its real-life look at Maine in the 1960s. I was amply rewarded.
“I am now two-thirds of the way through Richard Russo’s ‘Empire Falls.’ Although a work of fiction, it is based on solid Maine ground. Again it provides insight into living and growing up in Maine, which is the main reason I chose to read it. Again, I have been fully rewarded.