Edwin E. Thayer

Edwin E. Thayer SOUTH PARIS -- Edwin E. Thayer, of Oxford, died May 30, 2009, at the Maine Veterans Home after a long battle with Alzheimer's. He was born in Norway Sept. 3, 1932, the son of Dorothea and Arthur Thayer. Raised on the farm in Oxford, Ed's work ethic began at a young age delivering milk before walking for miles up hill both ways to school. After graduating from Oxford High School in 1951 he joined the United States Navy and served his country with great pride. On July 2,1953, he married Janice Colby on the farm in Oxford. After completing his four years in the Navy, he went to work for Robinson Manufacturing Company for a short while. He also worked for the State of Maine building the Maine Turnpike. His love of trucks began when he went into business with his cousin at H&B Trucking in Saco. This led him to Wiscasset where they bought Lincoln Motor Express. From there trucks led him through many a company, Bisson, Nelson Freightways, Coke-a Cola in New Hampshire, and Fox & Ginn. Finally in 1978 he bought two trucks and began Ed Thayer Inc. Settling back in Oxford in 1983, retiring, or pretending to retire, in 1994 with a fleet of 35 trucks. Spending winters in St. Petersburg, Florida and summers at his favorite spot on Hogan Pond in Oxford. With the business being turned over to his oldest son, Floyd, he had time to hunt and fish with the guys in Moxie and Lexington. Ed was a 50 year member of Bradford Sortwell Wright American Legion Post in Wiscasset, Lincoln Masonic Lodge #3 AF&AM of Wiscasset, Kora Temple Shrine, Scottish Rites, as well as serving as a Wiscasset selectman in the 60s. Ed was predeceased by his mother and father and his brother Harold. He is survived by his wife Janice of 56 years on July 2; his three sons, Floyd and his wife Paula of Oxford, Colby and his companion Jan, Bill and his wife Cheryl, all of Wiscasset, and his daughter PattiJo and her husband Stephen Averill of Alna. He also leaves 10 grandchildren, Don, Marshal and Bradley Thayer, Colby his wife Camille and Jessica Thayer, Willy, Colton and Chesley Thayer, and Laura-Kate and Daniel Averill; as well as by his dog Bell. It is with heartfelt thanks that we thank all the people at the Maine Veterans Home who spent Dad's last days with him. Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation on Monday, June 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Oxford Hills Funeral Services, 1037 Main St., Rte. 26, in Oxford. Masonic services by Lincoln Lodge #3 AF&AM will be conducted at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, June 2, at the funeral home at 1 p.m. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.oxfordhillsfuneralservices.com. Contributions may be made in Ed's memory to: The Maine Veterans Home 477 High St. South Paris, Maine 04281 or the Oxford Congregational Church P.O. Box 222 Oxford, Maine 04270 Edwin E. Thayer