STANDISH- David R Haskell, of Standish Maine, better known as ‘Paul Bunyan’, passed away quietly on December 28th, 2024. He was a stoic and hard headed man, a Vietnam Veteran, father, grandfather, brother and husband. He had battled many medical issues over his lifetime. The physical and mental issues he suffered after his tours in Vietnam as a Marine Corps Grunt: the exposure to Agent Orange as well as the PTSD he suffered from his tours there and the years after. More recently, he battled heart and kidney disease, diabetes, stage 4 prostate cancer, which had progressed to multiple major organs, bones, and lungs. He quietly battled these like the warrior he was with few complaints. Despite all of these health issues, he was able to spend one last holiday gathering with family, and for that we are forever grateful.
David was born in Portland, Maine on August 26th,1950, the youngest son to the late Fred Haskell and Gloria Merill. He attended Bonny Eagle High School and Westbrook schools before proudly joining the United States Marine Corps. He served multiple tours in the Vietnam War as what many referred to as a Grunt. Boots on the ground and hand to hand combat, exposed to the elements in a jungle where you slept in a dirt hooch when you were able to sleep, which wasn’t often. Before departing to war, he let his high school sweetheart get away. Upon his return from the war, as with many other Vietnam Veterans, he was presented with the utmost anger and rage from much of our country. He spent many years after coming home traveling the country and he enjoyed seeing so much of our beautiful country. His time in the war would shape many of the things he eventually did in his life.
When David settled down and had a family, he worked for many years as a truck driver for Nelson and Small delivering appliances all over New England. He enjoyed the solitude of the drive but also meeting people in small town diners. He could always strike up a conversation with people around him. In 1993, he finally received his due for the many impacts the war had had on his mental and physical health and received full disability from the VA. With this, he started to get some of the help he needed to combat his mental demons as well as the physical ailments from Agent Orange.
He is survived by his beloved wife & former high school sweetheart, Patti Haskell of Standish; his former spouse, Cheryl Haskell of Casco; their children Myla Meier (Mark Meier) of Minnesota, SaShell Nofsker of Raymond, David R. Haskell II of Poland; and five grandchildren - Alena, Niko, Samuel, Caelea and Orion; his brothers Larry Haskell (Grace) of Standish and Stanley Haskell (Robin) of Florida. Later in his life he was connected with his long-lost children, Alantis Algren of ND and Joe Cochran of Reno, NV. It gave him great joy to reconnect with these two after so many years of separation.
Survived by Patti’s children; Malissa, Cindy, Laura and their respective spouses or significant others and their children and grandchildren.
His wife Patti, added a genuinely loving extended family to our father, and openly welcomed his children and former spouse Cheryl at holiday dinners that we are so very grateful for. He was able to live and embrace the normal and non-dysfunctional meaning of ‘family’.
In his lifetime David has seen, experienced, and lived many different things. He spent many years as a member of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle club and was a big enthusiast of motorcycles. He had a love for his own vehicle collections and he spent many hours teaching his children how to properly maintain their vehicles. During the 80s, he was well known over the CB radio and met many friends who later became like one of the family. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family, he loved planning travel plans with his current wife, Patti, and they traveled many parts of the US in their RV, meeting up with friends and family along the way. He was an old school connoisseur of a good hot coffee and spent many happy hours at different coffee shops in and around Maine meeting friends or family or chatting it up with anyone who would ‘shoot the shit’. He sure loved telling stories and talking with just about anyone.
His time in the military and his service to our country was something he was extremely proud of. He was a man who held everything very close to his vest so to speak and had what many saw as an impenetrable hard exterior wall. He was a force you did not want to reckon with and was always very protective of his family. As he aged he became more open about his life experiences, especially in regards with the Vietnam War. With the help & support of his kids, he realized he could share his personal story of his time in the war with kids who were the same age as he had been when he enlisted. He started presenting his personal experience of the Vietnam War in classes at their high school, Bonny Eagle High School, in the late 90s and continued sharing his story with history students for years. He began opening himself to the ability to live a full life and have meaningful experiences that helped transform him from the scarred veteran who suffered from significant demons and PTSD, to the dad that would join his kids in some of their many activities: tennis, baseball, (he even was able to coach his sons team), or head to the slopes to watch his son & daughter and friends shred on their snowboards or show up to parties with his youngest kids SaShell and David and was known as the dad who gave motorcycle rides to many kids!
Visiting hours will be held on Friday Jan. 10th from 2 - 4 PM at the Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service Chapel, 498 Long Plains Road (Rt. 22) in Buxton. At 4 PM, David will receive USMC Honors at the funeral home. Following the honors, there will be an opportunity for folks to share their stories and memories. A reception will then be held at the Standish Town Hall - Sebago Room, 175 Northeast Road, Standish.
In lieu of flowers, please make a contribution in David's memory to an organization of your choice.
- Celebrating the Lives of Veterans -