Norman E. Dionne

MILLINOCKET – Norman "Bud" E. Dionne, 77, passed away peacefully at his summer home on August 16, 2008 after twenty years with heart disease. He was born September 27, 1930 in Millinocket, the son of Alex and Cecelia (LaPlante) Dionne.

Bud was a 1948 graduate of Stearns High School and recently attended his 60th class reunion. He played softball, basketball, and excelled at track during his high school years. He achieved the rank of Eagle Boy Scout at age 15 and enjoyed several summers at Camp Roosevelt. Bud’s first day of work at the Great Northern Paper Company was on his sixteenth birthday. After serving one year in the U.S. Navy following graduation, he returned to work at the GNP. He served as local secretary & treasurer for the Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers for twenty-five years and retired from the steam plant in 1979. As a young man, Bud enjoyed bowling and playing softball. Later on, he umpired men’s softball and ran the women’s volleyball program through the Millinocket Recreational Department. He was an avid follower of Stearns boys’ high school basketball and worked for WMKR radio doing game statistics during the Coach Wentworth era. Bud loved to travel and during his early retirement, he and his wife realized a life-long dream of traveling the country in their motor home. He was well known for his stories and always had a hug for a friend. In more recent years they divided their time between Apache Junction, Arizona in the winter and camp at Ambajejus Lake near Millinocket in the summer.

Bud is survived by his beloved wife of 55 years, Elaine (Brown) Dionne and four children, Cathy Mingo and her husband James of Holden, Maine; Norma-jean Dadgarian of New York; Thomas and his wife Carol of Millinocket; and Carol Morrison and her husband Michael of Millinocket; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brothers Donald and Robert.

At Bud’s request there will be no visitation or funeral. Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Millinocket Cemetery . Those who wish may donate in his memory to either the Heart Center of Eastern Maine Medical Center c/o EMMC Healthcare Charities, P.O. Box 931, Bangor, ME 04402-0931, or the Katahdin Area Council Boy Scouts of America, P.O. Box 1869, Bangor, ME 04402-1869.Arrangements with Clay Funeral Home, 7 Lee Road, Lincoln.