Warren Mumford

Warren "Whit" Whiton Mumford, 86 years, Bowdoin, Maine, went home to be with his Lord in the early morning of Sunday, August 3rd, 2025. He was at home, surrounded by his daughters, and died peacefully under home hospice care. We're confident that he is much happier being in his so much more real home with his (predeceased from this life) wife and two sons - our mum and brothers - than suffering here with the likes of us.

Dad was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on December 9th, 1938, to Warren and Frances Mumford. He grew up helping his father run a small (50 head) Jersey cow dairy farm in Springfield, Vermont. He loved the Jersey breed for its higher fat content which made for wonderful cream and butter. He graduated High School in Springfield, VT, and then went on to Wentworth Institute for a degree in drafting and machine. That is where he met the love of his life, Darby Jenks, and they married while still in school in Boston. To begin life together they rented a tiny city apartment with cockroaches leaping out of the cupboards. After finishing their respective schooling they moved back to the old dairy farm in Springfield to raise a family in a lovely country setting and never looked back. Dad worked in the tool and machine industry building and repairing machinery until he retired. He could never quite let go of farming though, and always had some animals both in Springfield - after the working dairy farm shut down - and in Maine.

They both loved the country and farming life, and wanted to be closer to Bustins Island as well, so they left Vermont in 1987 and lived on Bustins Island that summer (he commuting to work by boat to car during the week, and the both of them looking for a 'farm on the ocean' on the weekends). They had to make a decision before winter - staying in the uninsulated cottage was more of a frosty thrill than they cared to endure - so they found a small place in Topsham until they could find the land they would call home for the rest of their lives here. Even in Topsham they were able to squeeze a pony onto the property for their youngest, still living at home with them. They were never able to find the farm on the ocean that they dreamed of but felt that the Lord was leading them to the farm in Bowdoin. Since they already had a cottage on an island, it seemed the perfect combination and they settled in. Then began the project of luring their children home to themselves. While there, they had in varying combinations, numbers and times: milking and beef cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, a goose, turkeys and dogs and cats. They were also surrounded by the local wildlife, which they enjoyed as well... when it wasn't eating their animals, grain or destroying property. He continued to hay the fields into his early 80's and finally gave it up when he was diagnosed with "farmer's lung" emphysema.

He leaves behind (for now) his remaining children: Tracy Cerrato, Stephanie Gauthier and Katherine Dugal, his son-in-law Matthew Dugal. Also here on the farm, are grandchildren: Bethany and Brittany Gauthier, Lydia, James, Titus and Sophia Dugal. His oldest grandson Joshua Gauthier lives in Nashville, TN and next oldest; Benjamin Gauthier and his wife Jennifer and two great-grandchildren; Aviana and Ayla live in Buffalo, NY. Another grand-daughter, Emma Dugal, was able to be here to say goodbye before she flew out to Idaho to start college. He also leaves his sister, Joyce Frances Ryba and her children on the West Coast.

Their dream was to have a large enough parcel of land to bring their children home to themselves so they could be an integral part of our lives and souls right to the end. They succeeded in that mission. They taught us that we are soldiers for Christ, in our boot-camp training period here in this world, preparing for our lives to come with our Lord and Savior, Our King of Kings; Jesus Christ.

A Memorial Service will be held on August 16, 2025, from 03:00 PM to 04:00 PM at Lisbon Falls Baptist Church 555 Lisbon St, Lisbon Falls, ME 04252