Rev. Ed Boon and his climbing buddy, Lauky.

The Rev. Ed Boon, pastor of the Bridgton Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, is retiring in June after 49 years of ministry.

Ed and his wife, Karen, have served in Bridgton for 13 years. He will lead his last service as pastor of the Bridgton church on Sunday morning, June 2 at 9:30 a.m.

Ed grew up in Nyack, N.Y., where his father was a professor and then president of Nyack College. Ed and Karen met while studying at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and Gordon College in Massachusetts, and will have been married 49 years this fall.

The couple served in Daytona Beach, Fla. and Cranford, N.J. in preparation for an appointment to overseas service. Ed and Karen served in Africa for 11 years, first in Mali from 1969 to 1975, working with youth and teaching at the Bible School. Following that first term in Mali, they transferred to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) to help in the launching of the Maranatha Bible Institute in Burkina Faso, where they also taught. This school provides training for national pastors and is still very active today.

In 1979, Ed and Karen moved to France, where Ed first served as pastor of a Vietnamese Church in Toulouse, France and then as field director in Paris. They then moved to Mazamet in southwest France and served there for 11 years in a French church planting project. In 1992 while still in Mazamet, they began working with English speakers in the city of Toulouse some 50 miles away. Many of these people were business people working with the Air Bus company which has its international headquarters in Toulouse. They eventually moved to Toulouse and started the Toulouse International English language church. At the same time, they also pastored a French church in the suburbs of Toulouse.

In 1998, the Boon family returned to the United States and Ed spent two years traveling and speaking in churches about their work in France. On Aug. 1, 2000, after 31 years of missionary service with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Ed and Karen moved to Bridgton, where they have served faithfully, both in the church and in the community.

The Boons have three children and three grandchildren. Colette, the oldest, lives in Atlanta. She has a son, Silas. David lives in Auburn, and is married to Melissa, the daughter of Glen and Amy Chaplin of Harrison. David and Melissa have two children, Allura and Wyatt. Chantal, the youngest, lives with her parents. Ed, Karen and Chantal plan to move to north Georgia in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Ed is an avid mountain hiker and plans to continue hiking wherever he can. Since coming to Bridgton, Ed has climbed the 100 highest peaks in New England. He has also climbed the 48 New Hampshire peaks over 4,000 feet six times including one round of the 48 in winter. He is a member of the “48 over 70” club having climbed the New Hampshire 48 a couple of times since passing the age of 70.  He hikes mostly solo with his beloved Welsh Terrier, Lauky. (The name Lauky is a variation of an Indian word for “mountain.”)

The congregation of Bridgton Alliance Church will dearly miss these wonderful folks. Everyone in the community who has been touched by their service here is welcome to join with others on June 2 in honor of their many years of service and in celebration of their retirement. The worship service begins at 9:30 a.m. and there will be a celebration of their time here at 3 p.m. at the church.