CARL LINDLEY BUSTARD, SR., MERRILL and OAKLAND – We lost our father, Carl Lindley Bustard, Sr., to mankind’s greatest enemy, death, on November 30, 2017.
Carl was born on January 27, 1928, in Smyrna Mills, Maine, to Effie (Bunting) and Hazen Bustard. He was one of seven children. His sisters were Dorothy, Theresa, Wilma, Ruth, and Gail. He had one brother, Kenneth.
Carl graduated from Merrill High School on June 6, 1946. He worked in the woods with his father for a short time before joining the Army in June of 1947. He served a three-year stint, returning to his hometown of Smyrna Mills in June of 1950.
Carl attended basic training for the Army in Fort Ord, California. He was then based at Sugamo Prison in Tokyo, Japan. He was well known for his kindness to the prisoners. In a letter dated March 18, 1958, one of his former prisoners wrote to him: “Oh, I must tell you that I have never forgotten your kindness shown to me at Sugamo Prison. Thank you very much. You were a very friendly soldier for us, for all Japanese.”
While Carl was in Japan, he became father to a son, George Kodama, who was born in December of 1950. George’s mother was Teruko Bonnie Kodama.
In May of 1954, Carl married Fern Snow from Kirkland, New Brunswick, Canada, and it was on the homestead on Rebel Hill in Merrill that he became father to 12 more children: Bonnie, Melody, Kenny, Carla, Freddy, Carl, Andy, Eileen, Heather, Alden, Jamey, and Katy. Dad worked hard to care for his family from the time of his marriage to our mother in 1954 until Katy graduated from high school in 1997, a total of 43 years spent raising his family.
Dad expressed himself best in writing. Before Alzheimer’s made it impossible for him to formulate thoughts and get them down onto paper, his greatest pastime was writing letters.
If we could sum up briefly the things that brought Dad the most enjoyment in life, they could probably be narrowed down to three things: children, animals, and plants. Nothing would put a smile on his face like seeing a baby or watching children play. Even though not related by blood, he was known as Grampy for years to all the children at Eileen’s Daycare and to all the children who would come to visit him in our home.
He would sit for hours and watch the wild turkeys in the back yard and watch the birds come to their feeder. And he had a special cat, Princess, who would sleep with him every night. And there was nothing like taking walks with Dad through the woods before it became impossible for him to do so and he would point out and know the names of so many trees, plants, and flowers. His favorite flower was the lupine.
The later years of Dad’s life weren’t easy ones. On January 22, 2006, it became impossible for him to live on the homestead and take care of himself anymore. At that time he, along with his loyal companion, Tippy, left his beloved hometown of Merrill to live with his daughter and son-in-law, Heather and Andy Williams, in Oakland. That is where he spent his final years and it was in the comfort of their home that he died.
Dad is survived by all of his children, the mother of his children, as well as many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, his sisters, Theresa and Gail, and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents and his sisters, Dorothy, Wilma, Ruth, and his brother, Kenneth, he was predeceased by a son-in-law, Jeffrey Jewell, and a granddaughter, Kristi Hall.
Funeral services for Dad were held at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 10 at Gallant Funeral Home at 10 Elm Street in Waterville. A reception followed at Rita’s Catering & Event Center at 220 Main Street in Waterville. Everyone is welcome to attend.
To submit online condolences please go to www.gallantfh.com
