1936 – 2016

RUMFORD POINT — Charles Edward “Bucky” Burnham Jr., 79, died Saturday, Feb. 13, at his residence in Rumford Point.

Born in Rumford on Nov. 6, 1936, he was a son of Charles and Marjorie (Thurston) Burnham, Sr.

He was a graduate of Gould Academy, Class of 1955, and in 2011 he was inducted into the Gould Academy Sports Hall of Fame.

He proudly served in U.S. Marine Corps as a sergeant from 1955 to 1959, and he was selected to be White House presidential guard under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Bucky was known as a hard worker, having been employed as a heavy equipment operator for PH Chadbourne, the town of Rumford, Grondin, and the transfer station in Mexico. He was also a registered Maine guide.

Bucky loved skiing, and was proud that he got to teach his grandchildren how to ski. He also loved genealogy.

His survivors include two daughters, Deborah Colby and her husband, James, of Limington, and Natalie Burnham of Rumford Point; three brothers, David Burnham and his wife, Jeanne, of Scarborough, Guy Burnham and his wife, Cheryl, of Bethel, and Melvin and his wife, Debra, of Skowhegan; two granddaughters, Jennifer Sughrue and her husband, Patrick, of Dayton, and Kathryn Wise and her husband, William E., of Bowdoin; four great-grandchildren, Colby and Grace Sughrue, and Charlotte and William J. Wise; his former wife and the mother of his children, Linda Dyer of Rumford Point; two aunts, Verna Luke of Boothbay Harbor, and Jeannette Lamson of Portland; and two uncles, Marlin Thurston of Peru, and Harmon Thurston of Vermont.

Friends and family are invited to sign the online guest book and share memories with the family at www.meaderandson.com.