Obituary of E. Douglas Haskell

E. (Edwin) Douglas “Doug” Haskell, 87, of Deer Isle, beloved husband for 63 years of Mary Alice Barbour Haskell, died peacefully Saturday, November 22, 2014, at home with his family at his side. He lived an active, full life to the end. Doug was born at home in Deer Isle September 18, 1927, the son of Howard E. Haskell and Christie Mae Carman Haskell. He often told stories of growing up with his sister and brother in South Deer Isle and at Long Cove, attending a one-room schoolhouse and living a boyhood of roaming the woods, waterways and villages of his island home. His love of the coast, the outdoors and island living lasted his whole life. During World War II, Doug’s family moved to East Hartford, Connecticut, where his whole family worked in the Pratt and Whitney aircraft factories. He also told of long days working in the tobacco fields of the Connecticut River Valley during those years. Doug graduated from East Hartford High School in 1944. After the war, the Haskell family returned to Deer Isle, where Doug followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather in maritime trades. Doug worked as a yachtsman on Long Island Sound, N.Y. He also crewed on lobster smacks moving lobsters between Nova Scotia and Montauk, N.Y. He lobstered with Fred Heanssler off Sunshine in Jericho Bay. He also worked for Curtis and Basil Heanssler’s lobster businesses and building/maintaining their lobster pounds. He drove an express truck for Shepard Brothers and delivered granite from the Stonington quarries. He also hand loaded and hauled pulpwood for Barter Lumber Company. In 1951, he married Mary Alice Barbour. They built a home overlooking Long Cove and raised their children Jane and Scott. Mary Alice taught school while Doug worked numerous jobs. This summer they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary. Doug was a skilled wooden boat builder, custom making boats for local lobstermen and small yachts and pleasure craft for summer residents. Over the years he plied his craft building and repairing wooden boats at the Stonington Shipyard on Moose Island, Brooklin Boat Yard, Benjamin River Boat Yard, and lastly at his own boat shop, where he worked with Arno Day. Several times he built lobster boats for himself, which allowed him to take breaks from his boat building to pursue his love of lobstering and being on the water. For decades he fished his traps from South Deer Isle to Sunshine, rising by 4 a.m. to go hauling. He was named for his grandfather Edwin T. Carman, who was a pilot for the Eastern Steamship Company and was a sailor on the Columbia with its all Deer Isle crew in the 1899 America’s Cup races. Doug was a proud member of the International Haskell Family Society. Doug served his community in many ways. For many years he was a substitute rural letter carrier for Deer Isle Post Office. Doug was a Town of Deer Isle selectman and assessor for several years. He was an officer with the Deer Isle Volunteer Fire Department. Doug also served with the Memorial Ambulance Corps. He planted large vegetable gardens each year to feed his family. Doug especially was proud of his small orchard of cherry, pear, peach, and apple trees, which still produce prized fruits each year. In recent years he was known for his well-built Adirondack chairs, which are at numerous homes and cottages on the island. The Haskell homes have always been heated with wood, so Doug was often in the woodlot or lower field cutting and splitting firewood for the next winter. Doug was an avid reader and most evenings were spent engrossed in a good book. He is survived by his wife, Mary Alice Haskell of Deer Isle; daughter, Jane E. Haskell of Bangor; son, Scott D. Haskell and his wife, Nancy Ewing of Bangor; grandchildren, Jason Cowles of Monroe, Sarah Cowles of Koh Tao, Thailand, and Jackson Haskell of Bangor; his sister, Bertha A. Ott of Greenlawn, N.Y.; many nieces and nephews; a brother-in-law, Chandler Barbour and his wife Nita of Deer Isle; He was predeceased by a grandson, Benjamin Howard Cowles in 1987; and by his brother, Raymond A. Haskell, of Indiana in June. A memorial service will be held at Deer Isle Congregational Church, 57 Church Street on Rte. 15, on Sunday, December 7, 2014 at 1:30p.m., followed by a gathering in the church’s fellowship hall. An outdoor family remembrance will be held at Mariners Memorial Park in the spring. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Doug’s memory may be made to Chase Emerson Memorial Library, P.O. Box 9, Deer Isle, ME 04627 or Evergreen Garden Club, Deer Isle, ME 04627.