William E. Veague

William E. Veague
of Pepperell; former teacher and principal
of Groton Junior High School; 96

PEPPERELL, MA -- William Everett Veague, 96, died Dec. 28, 2011, at Nashoba Community Hospital, Ayer, MA.

He was born May 9, 1915, in Poughkeepsie, NY, the son of John M. and Clara (Garabrant) Veague Sr. Educated in Brooklyn, NY, and Cambridge, MA, public schools, Bill graduated from the University of Maine in 1938, where he was president of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, and played on the freshman baseball and varsity tennis teams. He remained a superb tennis player until he was in his 80s, when he transferred his competitiveness to the croquet court. Bill attended Harvard Law School and received a law degree from Boston University School of Law in 1941.

During World War II, he represented E.B. Badger & Sons, a Cambridge, MA, engineering firm, at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on the island of Cuba.

In 1944, he married Katherine "Kat" Chiles of Natural Bridge Station, VA, a union that endured for nearly 59 years. In 1959, after living in Cambridge, MA, Natural Bridge Station, VA, and St. Petersburg, FL, the Veagues moved to Pepperell, MA, where they made their home until 1980. During that time, he served as an English teacher and principal of Groton Junior High School, Groton, MA, until his retirement in 1979.

His family home in Harborside was the place Bill loved best. He and Kat lived there and in Naples, FL, for more than 20 years until her death in 2003. In recent years, he continued to live in Harborside, spending winters with his daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and John Ganem, in Pepperell, MA. He retained an interest in and keen eye for antiques to the end of his life, enjoyed his dachshund, Tuppence, and loved the view from his home across the Penobscot Bay. He was a member of the Lunch Bunch in Blue Hill and a 42-year member of Bucks Harbor Yacht Club.

He leaves his daughter, Barbara Veague Ganem of Pepperell, MA, and her husband, John Ganem; and his son, John Veague, of Stockbridge, MA, and his wife, Heather. He is survived by grandson, Geoffrey Ganem of San Francisco and his wife, Anne; granddaughter, Alexandra Veague, and grandson, William Veague, both of Stockbridge, MA; and a great-grandson, Henry Ganem of San Francisco. He was predeceased by his grandson, Christopher Ganem.

VEAGUE -- Burial will be in spring 2012 at Evergreen Cemetery, Harborside. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that Bill be remembered with a gift to an institution he supported during his lifetime -- Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Blue Hill.