Bourdon P. Scribner

HARRISON — Bourdon P. “Scrib” Scribner was born in Harrison at Scribner’s Mills on Aug. 12, 1928, the son of Mabel and Edward Scribner. At age 89, he passed away on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017, at his home in Harrison.

For the last six years, he enjoyed his cat Emma, who was the official greeter at his house, if she wasn’t curled up on his lap. Bourdon worked at the family sawmill as a boy. When he was a teen, he drove a Model T to deliver ice in the town of Bridgton. Bourdon worked in a clothing store to support himself while he finished high school. He graduated from Bridgton High School in 1946. In 1947, he bought a log truck and trucked logs for a living. In 1955, Bourdon built a sawmill in Scribner’s Mills, which was struck by lightning in 1963, burning the mill. He rented a sawmill in South Paris for a few years, then purchased the wood products mill on Depot Street in Harrison, operating it under the name of Ponderosa Products, until he was in his seventies.

Bourdon was a Deacon at the South Paris Congregational Church when his children were young. In his later years, camp became his church. He was a member of the Bolsters Mills Grange, Crooked River Masonic Lodge #152, a charter member of the Harrison Historical Society and Scribner’s Mill Preservation, Inc.

Bourdon had many hobbies throughout the years and enjoyed sharing them with family and friends. He purchased camps in Beddington, Lakeville and Sumner, where he enjoyed the outdoors and entertaining others. Bourdon enjoyed hunting and fishing, canoeing and riding the snowmobile and ATV through the blue-berry fields near camp. He went caribou hunting in Canada, elk hunting in Montana, and salmon fishing in Alaska. Bourdon had a lifelong dream fulfilled when his brother and nephew built a Model T from parts that he had collected over the years. A smile would be across his face the whole time he was riding in his Model T. He was able to give his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren rides in his “toy.”

Throughout the years, Bourdon collected Scribner genealogy and family stories. He was an avid reader and was able to retain information about specific gun memorabilia, coins or woodworking tools. His mind was sharp as a tack to the end, and he was able to recite countless facts and figures.

Bourdon was married to his wife Janyce Johnson Scribner for 42 years when she passed away in 1998. He is survived by his daughters, Connie and her husband Ed Arnott and Martha and her husband Hobie Denison, all of Harrison; and stepdaughter Jean Cummings of South Paris; his five sons, David and his wife Donna of Clarksville, Tenn., Edwin of South Paris, Randy and his girlfriend Chris, Wendell and his wife Rachel, and Dale, all of Harrison; his brother Daniel and his wife Roberta of Harrison; his first wife Olive Knight Shane of Bridgton; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews; his brother-in-law, Gordon Reynolds; and his son-in-law Michael Marshall and his wife Nancy. Bourdon was predeceased by his daughter, Dottie Marshall; and his three sisters, Catherine Calef, Phyllis Partridge and Lucy Reynolds.

Graveside services will be held on Sunday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. at Stuart’s Corner Cemetery in Harrison. Family and friends may attend visitation on Saturday, Nov. 11, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Oxford Hills Funeral Services, 1037 Main St., Oxford. Crooked River Lodge #152 will conduct Masonic services at 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Scribner’s Mill Preservation, Inc., PO Box 323, Harrison, ME 04040. Online condolences may be shared with his family at www.oxfordhillsfuneralservices.com