William R. "Bill" Tolford

William R. 'Bill' Tolford FALMOUTH -- William R. 'Bill' Tolford of Briny Breezes, Fla., passed away quietly Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008, at his summer residence in Falmouth, after a long battle with heart disease. He joins his wife Ruth who passed seven years earlier. Bill was born June 1, 1924, in Portland, to Dr. Ronald Joseph Tolford and Margaret Newcomb Tolford. He grew up in Portland and Peaks Island, attended Portland schools including two years at Deering before transferring and graduating from Portland High in 1942. This would cause great problems in later years deciding which side to sit for the Thanksgiving Day football games often leaving him and his family in one end zone or the other. Bill attended University of Maine in Orono studying Forestry until joining the Navy for WWII. Qualifying for submarines at Groton, Conn., Bill found himself in destroyers and escorts on the North Atlantic convoys until qualifications for the V 12 program transferred him to Naval Studies and Biology at Princeton University, graduating in September 1949. A year into graduate studies at the Massachusetts College of Optometry, the Navy again called with tours of duties in the Atlantic and Thule, Greenland for the Korean Conflict. Rejoining Optometry studies in 1952, he met the love of his life, the beautiful Ruth Eleanor Watt whom he married July 25, 1953. Following the arrival of son Timothy and graduation in 1954, the happy family moved from Boston back to Portland to join the Optometric practice started by his father in 1918. Soon daughter Nancy finalized the family prior to their move to Falmouth in 1959. William is a Life member of the Maine and American Optometric Associations, having held board positions in the MOA. He was active in the Alumni Associations of U. Maine, Princeton, and the New England (Massachusetts) College of Optometry where he was a Trustee, the Portland YMCA where as President he heralded the first swimming pool in the early 60s, the Portland Toastmasters Club, and the Venerable Cunner and Propeller Club as well as past president of the Portland Lions Club, member and instructor in the U.S. Power Squadron, and sat on the Board of Directors of Briny Breezes. Bill loved the sea. He and Ruth took family and friends cruising along the Maine coast, especially enjoying the Boatel Boothbay as weekend dock master. Two trips to the New York World's Fair, untold transits along 'the ditch' to and from Florida in a succession of 20/20's, B&B, and Golden Eagle expanded their world. Captain Bill or 'Doc' enjoyed deep sea fishing and especially the Casco Bay Tuna Tournament out of Bailey Island before catching the Tall Ships bug starting with a transatlantic cruise of the Barquentine William R. 'Bill' Tolford Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home & Cremation Service 775-3763 Gazella Primero in 1971, the Bicentennial Tall Ships Races from Bermuda to Newport and New York, followed by stints on the Brig Unicorn, Ship Elissa, and the Schooner Swerman Zwicker into his late 70s. William helped form and was President of SAIL Inc. with the goal of building and sailing a new training ship representing the State of Maine. The Tolford family moved to Falmouth in 1959 and settled beside the Portland Yacht Club where they enjoyed the camaraderie, predicted log racing, running the annual Monhegan Island Race Clambake and being the night and off season watchman for many years. Winters found Bill leading his family around Pleasant Mountain and occasional vacations to Briny Breezes, Florida where in later years he and Ruth settled. Other trips found Bill and Ruth in Europe, Scandinavia, Alaska, the Amazon and the Mediterranean as well as cruising on their boats through the Bahamas and Caribbean. In 1982, Bill helped found the Snow Squall Restaurant and MarinEast in South Portland where he moved upon semi- retirement. They alternated seasons with their winter haven at Briny Breezes where he enjoyed watching the Gulf Stream, acting in skits and plays, organizing lobster dinners, and entertaining many friends and relatives. Recently Bill moved to Oceanview in Falmouth to be closer to his family. William leaves his beloved sister Rhoda Tolford Stone of Sarasota, Fla.; niece Margaret Loomis also of Sarasota, and niece Andrea Davis and her husband Robert 'Skip' Davis of Sarasota, Fla. and Peaks Island; son Timothy W. Tolford and his wife Kathryn, daughter Nancy T. Aceto and her husband William E. Aceto; granddaughter Sarah Tolford Selby and her husband Luke, grandson Christopher William Tolford all of Falmouth; and friend and confidant Nancy Boczon of Briny Breezes, Fla. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a visitation on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008, from 5-7 p.m. at Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St., Portland. A memorial service will be held on Friday, Oct. 17, 2008, at 1 p.m. at the funeral home with the Rev. Philip Shearman officiating. Burial in Evergreen Cemetery, Portland will be private. You are invited to share your thoughts, condolences and memories with the Tolford family by visiting Bill's guest book at www.mem.com. In lieu of flowers donations in Bill's memory can be made to a charity of your choice.