Portland/Mt Desert/Bangor
Dr. Edward Blake Babcock of Bangor, Mt. Desert and Portland passed away on February 10, 2013 at Maine Medical Center. He was born in Bangor, August 28, 1922, the oldest of the three children of Edward B. Babcock, Sr. and Dorothy L. Babcock.
He attended All Souls Church, Bangor and later United Church of Christ of Somesville, Bangor schools, Bowdoin College, class of 1944 and Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Post-graduate training was mainly at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He served as medical officer in the U.S. Army in Germany after World War II.
He later practiced medicine in Bangor from 1944 to 1984 and was certified by the American College of Physicians, Board of Internal Medicine. He served terms as President of the Medical Staff and as Chief of the Medical Service at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
The Babcock family is documented on the Kennebec River above Augusta as early as 1763 and reached Bangor in 1857. His paternal grandfather, Augustus Hatch Babcock, was a certified member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants. His maternal grandfather, Dr. J. Albert Lethiecq, practiced medicine in Bangor/Brewer for many years. Dr. Babcock was a direct descendant of Abraham Somes from Massachusetts, the first permanent settler of Mt. Desert Island (Somesville) in 1761.
Dr. Babcock and his first wife Sylvi Arntzen of Oslo Norway, who died in 1983, had four lovely children: Brit Elizabeth, Theodore Arne both now of Palm Springs and Los Angeles, CA, Hannah Somes with three children: Sylvi and Robert Roy from a first marriage to Robert Roy and Joshua from a second marriage to David Brown of Portland, ME and Christopher Somes married to Kelly with three children: Kenagh, Finnegan and Keating all of Wayne Pennsylvania.
He is survived by his sister Jane A. Babcock of Portland and his brother Dr. Albert L. Babcock of Duxbury MA who has four children from an earlier marriage to Rhoda Bannon: Linda, Jonathan, David and Daniel, three great nieces and three great nephews. Also Unni Dahl-Lowe, sister of his first wife Sylvi who now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina and her daughters Chanette and Kimberly.
Dr. Babcock was remarried in 1984 to Nancy Smith Casner who has four children of an earlier marriage to Andrew J. Casner, Jr.: Andrea C. Stephens of Portland, Maine, A. James Casner married to Elizabeth with one child Andrew James living in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, John Edwin of Searsmont, Maine, who passed away March 10, 2010 and David Hall married to Julie with two children Noah and Samantha of Saratoga Springs, New York.
Along with the practice of medicine Dr. Babcock engaged in many outdoor activities. He spent sixty-five years on skis enjoying every minute as well as competitive sailing. He was fond of cribbage and especially bridge which he considered the greatest of card games and became a Silver Life Master.
A burial service will be held in Somesville, Maine. Those who wish to remember Edward in a special way may make contributions in his name to Somesville Union Meeting House, United Church of Christ, P. O. Box 96, Mt. Desert, ME 04660 or Bowdoin College, 4100 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011, or to a charity of their choice.
Arrangements by Jordan-Fernald, 1139 Main St. Mt. Desert
Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com