BEVERLY: Alfred Thomas Washburn, 86, died Friday, January 31, 2014 in the Beverly Hospital following a brief illness. He was the husband of the late Elaine I. (Mitchell) Washburn who died on June 13, 2012.
Born in Princeton, Maine on August 17, 1927, he was the son of the late Alfred H. and Cora (James) Washburn. He was a graduate of Bangor High School class of 1946. He had resided in Bangor for many years before moving to Beverly in 1955. A U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II, he was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska before his honorable discharge in May 1949. Prior to leaving the military, he married his sweetheart for life, his beloved Elaine Mitchell of Bar Harbor, Maine.
Alfred worked his entire life in the shoe machinery business ending up at the United Shoe Machinery Corp. in Beverly for thirty-five years before his retirement in 1990.
Alfred’s passing leaves sadness, sorrow and happy memories to those who survived him. He is survived by his two sons, Richard and his wife, Donna Washburn of Lakeville, ME and James Washburn and his companion, Cheryl Jacobs of Peabody; seven grandchildren, Rebecca Washburn and her husband, Sean Fitzpatrick, Gregory Washburn, Nicole Polson and her husband, Nick, Christopher Washburn, Meagan Washburn and her fiancé, Patrick Serra, Tommy Washburn and Sean Campbell; three great-grandchildren, River Washburn and Owen and Brayden Polson; a brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law, Richard and Francis Mitchell and Jackie Hanf and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Alfred was affectionately known to all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren as “Umpa”. He enjoyed traveling on several occasions to Texas with his loving daughter-in-law, Laurie Peloquin to visit his great-grandchildren. “Umpa” will be missed dearly, but his legacy left to all of his family is the happiness he gave to all.
His funeral service will be held on Tuesday in the Grondin Funeral Home, 376 Cabot Street, Beverly at 11 a.m. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 10 – 11 a.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. Committal services will be privately held on Wednesday in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Bangor, Maine. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-1905 or to The Home for Little Wanderer’s, 271 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115.