One hundred and one years is a long time, especially in this digital age, where a year is still a year, but it seems to move by more quickly. Watching your parachute open as the B 17 bomber you sat in just seconds ago burst into flames must have felt like an eternity in slow motion. But as time would prove, that moment was just the start of a legacy of service and humility in the life of Edward Browne Jr., who died on December 22, 2020, at the age of 101. He had been a resident of Dennysville but most recently was living at the Maine Veterans' Home (MVH) in Machias.
    Browne was a decorated WWII veteran and a prisoner of war for 10 months behind German lines, but he dismissed that experience, even declining a Purple Heart, saying, "I didn't do anything special. I jumped out of the plane and got a little dirty."
    Browne was pumping gas at a service station in New Jersey and just 19 when he was drafted by the Army Air Corps, sent to gunnery school in Las Vegas, Nev., then to Peyote, Texas, where bomber crews were formed, before flying out of Norfolk, England, with the 8th Air Force as a gunner culminating in 17 missions. Through it all, Browne did his duty quietly and with dignity. In 1944 he and nine of his crew were shot down over Frankfurt, Germany, taken prisoner and held until they were liberated on May 7, 1945.
    After being discharged from the Army Air Corps, Browne moved to Alaska, where he attended the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and became a soils and forestry engineer. While there he met and married his first wife, Ruby Green, a schoolteacher. They had two children and were married 23 years until her death. Browne then met Margaret Nugent, a social worker. They married and moved to Ketchikan, Alaska, where he worked for the Bureau of Land Management.
    After his retirement in the mid 1980s, Browne and his wife moved to Maine, lived a short time in Eastport and then moved to Dennysville in 1991. There he would live in a place that just "seemed to fit," recalls Pastor Ron Windhorst of the Congregational churches in Dennysville, Robbinston and Perry. "He was a true friend," says Windhorst. "From the moment you met him, you knew you had a gracious new friend. He was interested in everyone and everything, and he never forgot a name."
    According to Windhorst, it took Browne little time to make himself known to the church and community. Margaret sang in the church choir. "Immediately, he asked what he could do to be of service in the congregation," says Windhorst. "More than 50 years ago I had also lived in Alaska, so we always had something special to share."
    "After Margaret died, I stopped in at his house every morning -- except Sundays -- for coffee while he had breakfast, and we talked about Alaska, the day's activities and the goodness of God in our lives."
    He noted, too, Browne's passion for the outdoors. "Ed's passions in Maine were the great out-of-doors -- both summer and winter," says Windhorst. "He loved fishing and hunting, but most of all he loved meeting people and making friends."
    As a resident of the Machias veterans' home since 2014, Browne was considered by many a shining example of what that facility is all about. "Present and past employees of MVH have very special and fond memories of Ed," says Marcia Jackson, executive administrator of the facility. "He was a gentle soul with a strong will -- proud, patriotic, a Christian gentleman, appreciative for anything that was done for him."
    Browne celebrated his 100th birthday at MVH with all the pomp and circumstance a century of life deserves. Browne was humbled by it all as dignitaries from around the county came to honor him, reading letters of commendation and presenting him with an American flag that had flown over the Maine State House.
    "He was known for his notes of encouragement and appreciation," says Jackson. "Ed had a warm heart that made him aware and protective of others, including staff and residents who might be going through difficult times. There is a small Christmas tree that Ed insisted I place in my office throughout the holidays. I will display it every Christmas and fondly remember him. Ed Browne will be missed by one and all at MVH."
    Windhorst recalls phoning Browne after his first night at the veterans' home and hearing about a back itch Browne was having and could not reach to scratch. One of the attendants on duty looked in on him and noticed he was in need of help and offered to scratch his back. "Why Ron, this is better than the Grand Hotel," said Browne. After that, whenever Windhorst would call his friend, he would answer the telephone, "Hello, Grand Hotel!"