FREEPORT — Edwinn Harris Fogg, 87, died peacefully at his Freeport home Jan. 16.

Fogg was born Dec. 3, 1925, in Freeport to Merrill Osborne Sr. and Clara Soule Osborne. The oldest of eight children, he grew up at Grover’s Crossing and was educated in Freeport schools.

In 1943, Fogg joined the U.S. Navy, serving for 30 months in the South Sea Islands during World War II. He later spoke about his service in a local cable documentary by Ed Bonney.

He married his wife, Barbara Jean Coffin, on June 4, 1948 at her family home on Wolfe’s Neck. Together they built a house on Old Country Road, where they raised their five daughters and lived until building their retirement home on Wolfe’s Neck in 1976.

Fogg’s career with United Shoe Machinery took him far and wide, installing shoe machines and instructing about their use in Maine, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and London. He also attended a business seminar in Russia.

Remembered as a loving father who was very proud of his daughters, Fogg was known for his “glass half-full” mentality. He loved to laugh and keep his family amused with funny stories, especially about his childhood growing up in Freeport.

Fogg loved the outdoors and enjoyed taking his boat out on Casco Bay, fishing, cutting firewood and tapping maple trees. He knew Casco Bay and its islands well, having worked with his father and grandfather on a charter boat out of South Freeport as a teenager.

In their later years, Fogg and his wife enjoyed travelling the United States in their motor home visiting 48 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Fogg was a committed member of the First Parish Congregational Church, where he taught Sunday school classes, worked on the monthly bean suppers and fairs and was a deacon in the church.

Surviving are his daughters, Brenda and her husband, John Skillin, of Freeport; Gayle and her husband, Bruce Gordon, of Tierra Verde, Fla.; Gloria DeGrandpre of Freeport; Robyn and her husband, John Peskovitz, of Freeport; his grandchildren John Skillin Jr., and his wife, Rachael, of Yarmouth; Sonya and her husband, Troy Voutour, of Freeport; Allison and her husband, Robert Garrett, of Tampa, Florida; Katharine DeGrandpre of South Portland; Karen DeGrandpre of Freeport; as well as his great-grandchildren, Griffin Day of Freeport; Amelia Skillin of Yarmouth; and Caroline Voutour of Freeport, who will all miss him dearly.

He is also survived by his sister, Marilyn DiBiase, of Portland, his brothers, Joe, of Monmouth, Merrill, of Freeport, and their families, as well as sisters-in-law, brother-in-law and many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Barbara Coffin Fogg, in 2010; a daughter, Rebecca Fogg Stilkey, in 2008; sons-in-law David Stilkey in 2009 and David DeGrandpre in 1991. He was also predeceased by his sister,s Emily Stimpson and Charlotte Fogg, his brothers, Ernest Fogg and Donald Fogg; and his brothers-in-law, Steve Mitchell, Jack Holme and Ed Stimpson.

A memorial service was held Sunday for Fogg at the First Congregational Church in Freeport and interment will be in the spring at the Grove Cemetery in Freeport.

Sidebar Elements

---

Fogg

Copy the Story Link