Arthur Deakin Jr.

Arthur Deakin, 90, died peacefully at home in the presence of his daughter on January 24, 2016. He has now joined the love of his life, his wife Glennis, who predeceased Arthur in January of last year. Arthur was born in Portland to Arthur Deakin and Nellie (Bonney) Deakin on August 26, 1925. He graduated from Deering High School in 1943. On April 21, 1950, Arthur married Glennis (Irish) Deakin and they had one child, Kimberly. Art and Glenn loved to spend an evening dancing at local establishments and they kept themselves in vogue by taking lessons of the latest dance steps. My personal favorite was their disco years. I am sure they are now tripping the light fantastic together among the heavenly stars. Arthur enjoyed a career in television, starting with the now defunct station WPMT and ending with his retirement from WGME channel 13 in 1987. He wore many hats in his job, from projectionist, to cameraman and then to production. As a child, some of my fondest memories were of visiting him at the station and watching him work his magic running giant reels of tape through the projectors, much like a ballet with great timing and precision. I also witnessed his camera work on many old live TV shows such as: the Ken MacKenzie Show, Captain and the Kids, the Dave Aster show and Romper Room. In his day Arthur was quite a good water skier, performing on trick skis and deftly swaying through the slalom course. Nothing made him happier than spending time with all the kids on the lake teaching them to ski. He will be missed by those who have expressed to me how many wonderful memories they have of his kindness and patience. Arthur then went on to teach his grandson how to sail, his granddaughter how to water ski and taught them both how to navigate the onion-rings-of-death on Little Sebago. His grandchildren fondly remember heading up to the lake and always being greeted by Nana and GG sunbathing on the float. Spending time with family on the small, intimate sandy beach brought him much joy. In his declining years, his and Glennis dreams of having a log cabin built on the lake finally came to fruition. They both loved sitting on the deck and watching their great grandchildren derive the same beachy pleasures as their predecessors. Surviving Arthur are his daughter, Kimberly Darling of Gray, grandson Christopher Darling and his wife Heidi of Lovell, granddaughter Amy (Darling) Freese and her husband Richard of South Portland and five great grandchildren: Benjamin, Samuel, Madeline Darling and Emily and Abigail Freese. At the familys request all services will be private. Arrangements are under the direction of the Conroy-Tully Crawford Funeral Home, 172 State Street, Portland, ME. To view Arthurs memorial page or to share an online condolence, please visit www.ctcrawford.com