Vernon E. McFarland

Vernon E. McFarland, age 90, of John Knox Village, Fla., passed away on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. He was born in Trenton, Maine, and graduated from Bar Harbor High School in Bar Harbor, Maine.

After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II he attended the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, he was first employed as an instructor in electrical engineering at the University of Maine, then in succession as electrical engineer for Central Maine Power Company, Augusta, Maine; electrical engineer for the Great Northern Paper Company, Millinocket, Maine; sales engineer for Motorola Communications and Electronics, Needham Mass.; consulting engineer with Anderson Nichols, Concord; and electrical engineer for the Concord Electric Company, Concord, reaching the position of vice president of engineering and operations. He retired in 1986, after 26 years with the company and for 15 years pursued a self-employed career as a consulting engineer. In November 2000 he and wife, Norma, moved to John Knox Village, a Continuing Care Retirement Community, in Orange City, Fla.

He was a Registered Professional Engineer in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Maryland; served on the advisory board for the Engineering and Operations Divisions of the Electrical Council of New England; served as president of the New Hampshire Society of Professional Engineers; served as a member of the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers for the State of New Hampshire; and was a life member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He received the Engineer-of-the-Year award for 1986, presented by the professional engineering societies in New Hampshire.

He was a master mason in Washington Lodge No. 61 in Manchester and a member of the Elks Lodge of Concord.

He was founder and president of Vemco Alarms Inc., a security systems company of Concord.

A graveside service will be held at Blossom Hill Cemetery, 207 N. State St., Concord, on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, at 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the BU Medical Board of Trustees, note the Skip Curtis Fund in the memo box. Address, Dr. Robert Stern, BU Alzheimer's disease, BU School of Medicine, 72 East Concord St., B7800, Boston 02118. 100 percent of your donation will go to the research of fighting Alzheimer's.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Bennett Funeral Home of Concord.

Messages of condolence may be offered at bennettfuneral.com.