SCARBOROUGH — George R. “Papa” Mulcahy, 100, died peacefully June 27 at the Maine Veterans’ Home in Scarborough.

Mulcahy was born March 24, 1913, in Fall River, Mass., eldest of the six children of George P. and Susan (Blake) Mulcahy. At 13, his father died of tuberculosis, making Mulcahy the sole provider for the family. Through his uncle, he was able to land a job in a textile mill, and also attended the Durfee Textile School in the evenings.

After attaining his GED, Mulcahy continued his education and eventually became a textile chemist. But in 1940, at age 27, he was drafted and stationed on Peaks Island as a coastal submarine lookout. While on Peaks he met, and eventually married, the love of his life, Margaret.

After Pearl Harbor, Mulcahy was assigned overseas to the U.S. Army’s 215th Field Artillery Battalion as a forward observer. He served in the liberation of France, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and was among the American/British team that freed prisoners of Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi death camp.

Back in the United States, Mulcahy and his wife dug clams until he eventually found work at Cook Box Company in Westbrook. He retired from the company 27 years later. The couple also operated a child day-care center in Westbrook for 20 years.

His passions in life were his family, his faith, New England sports teams, and golfing with his friends at the Gorham Country Club, of which he was a founder and the oldest member.

In 1997, at the age of 84, Mulcahy won the club’s prestigious President’s Cup. Eight years later, at 92, he scored his only hole-in-one. For that feat, he was honored in Sports Illustrated and was the magazine’s “Faces-in-the-Crowd” Athlete of the Decade. The country club holds an annual tournament in his name each year.

Mulcahy is predeceased by his wife, Margaret; his son, Edward; great-granddaughter Jessica, and his Massachusetts relatives. He is survived by his children, Kathleen Lynch, of Cumberland, William Mulcahy of Willits, Calif., and Susan McKee, of South Portland; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandsons and numerous nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours were scheduled for Tuesday at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland, with a funeral Mass at Holy Cross Catholic Church on Wednesday.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Mulcahy’s name may to be sent to the Maine Veterans Home Activities Fund, 290 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074.

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