SCARBOROUGH — John H. Seidel, DMD, 90, of Scarborough, affectionately known as Harry, died on April 21, 2012.
The son of Dr. John C. and Mable Seidel, he was born in Portland, the oldest of four boys, attended Sacred Heart, Deering High School and graduated from Tufts University, School of Dental Medicine.
Dr. Seidel served in both the Army and Navy Dental Corps during
WWII and later with the Veteran’s Administration in Portland. It was during this time that he met and married his wife of 65 years, Rita (Dorval) Seidel. Together, they raised three children while living in Deering, Falmouth and later as longtime residents of Pine Point in Scarborough.
Along with his service at the VA, he joined and practiced with his father in Portland for 35 years. As a dentist, he taught at Tufts, served on college boards, professional committees and was past president of the Greater Portland District Dental Society. Having retired to Florida, he at 80 years old, volunteered and provided dental care for migrant workers in the greater Naples area.
During his life, Harry enjoyed sports, lacrosse with the Boston Lacrosse Club, skiing with his family in North Conway, sailing on Casco Bay and especially golf on courses around the country. Harry and Rita were members of the Portland Country Club and Hide Away Beach Club on Marco Island, Fla. Throughout his golfing career, Harry shot six holes-in-one. But the greatest focus of his athletic life, for he and his wife, was attending as many of his children’s and grandchildren’s games and events as possible, always quick to travel any distance to watch a game, match or race.
A life constant for Harry and Rita was their home in Pine Pt. He loved to sit in the backyard in the warm sunshine and be the first to announce a sea breeze, “Sea Turn!” and say with a grin, “Feel that ocean air!”
He is survived by his wife Rita; son John C. Seidel of Scituate, Mass.; daughters Anne Marie Owens of Denmark and Barbara Keene of Gorham; 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Visitation was held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, 2012, at Conroy-Tully Crawford South Portland Chapel, 1024 Broadway, South Portland. A Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday at 10 a.m. at St. Margaret’s Church, 6 Saco Avenue, Old Orchard Beach. Burial with military rites will follow at Scarborough Memorial Cemetery, Scarborough. Online condolences may be sent to: www.ctcrawford.com
In lieu of flowers, the family
requests donations to: The Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, D.C. 20090-6011.