Paul R. Biette

Paul R. Biette 1926 – 2022 BRUNSWICK – Paul Roland Biette, 96, of Mere Point, Brunswick died on Monday, June 13, 2022 at Maine Medical Center in Portland, after a brief illness. He was born in Brunswick on Jan. 21, 1926, the son of J. Oglibert and Isabelle Biette. Paul attended Brunswick schools. He was a veteran of both WWII and Korea, serving in the U.S. Navy during both conflicts. In WWII, he served in the Pacific theater and went ashore in Japan as a member of the Occupation Force. During the Korean Conflict, he was stationed in the Atlantic and participated in the construction of the U.S. Air Force base in Thule, Greenland. In 1951, he married Sidney L. Higgins of Brunswick. They first made their home in Pennellville where Paul had spent much of his youth working on his uncle’s beef cattle farm. They later moved to Mere Point where they lived in the home that had been built by Paul’s father on the eastern shore of the Point. There they raised their five children, and Paul lobstered, and raised black angus cattle and a garden to feed his growing family. In 1991, he met Sherry A. Hanson of Brunswick who remained his life partner until his death. They lived in Brunswick until Paul’s retirement. They then spent one year in their RV traveling around the U.S. and up into Alaska. Following this trip, they began to spend winters in Florida where they lived and worked as volunteers in the Oscar Scherer State Park in SW Florida. They later purchased a home in Nokomis, Fla. where they continued to live seasonally, returning to Brunswick to enjoy Maine summers. Paul was a hard worker. As a teenager, he worked at his father’s filling station in Brunswick. There he began developing his skills as a mechanic. He spent summers haying and caring for the cattle on his uncle’s farm. He also began to work on the water. He lobstered, and dug clams and quahogs, throughout his life. After his service, he launched his career as a heavy equipment operator and mechanic. Initially, he took a succession of jobs with contractors developing large projects including the construction of Route 9, the airline, and the over-the-horizon radar array in Washington County, and the rebuilding of the bridges over the Mad River in Connecticut after the floods caused by two hurricanes in 1955. After years of moving his young family around to accommodate these jobs, he was able to return to Brunswick where he worked on the development of Brunswick Naval Air Station. He then formed his own contracting business, Biette Construction, which provided site development services in the Brunswick area for several decades. His two young sons joined the company and worked alongside their father for a number of years. Paul had many interests outside of his business and family commitments. He was a musician, playing rhythm guitar with The PMs band, popular in the ’60s at local dances and weddings. He was a founding member of the Brunswick Sea Lions, a scuba diving club, where he taught diving and provided his lobster boat to take club members on trips to dive for scallops. Once his sons came into the business, Paul was able to take some time away from work to pursue a long postponed desire to become a private pilot. He flew his plane out of Harpswell for many summers before he took on one of his last site projects, construction of a runway on this property in Bowdoinham where he maintained his construction shop. He loved fly fishing and ice fishing. He and his family enjoyed going to their camp in Wesley, where Paul had built them an off-the-grid camp. There he enjoyed fishing in all seasons, canoeing, and snowshoeing. He is survived by his sister, Connie Turner; partner, Sherry Hanson; daughter, Karen Barstis and husband, Bart, son, Jeff and wife, Denise, daughter, Elaine Flanagan and husband, Bart, daughter, Doreen Lynch and husband, David; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son, David. There will be no services. A celebration of his life will be held later this summer. Memories and condolences can be shared at http://www.brackettfh.com . In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the charity of your choice.