Brunswick-David Leo Tondreau of Brunswick, Maine, was called home to our heavenly Father on February 8, 2021.

Born in 1931, David is survived by his wife Phyllis (Jackie) Davis Tondreau, his four children, Cathie Dittrich, Susan Tondreau-Dwyer, Lisa Tondreau and David (Chip) Tondreau, Jr., his sons- and daughter-in-law Bob Dittrich, Dwight Dwyer and Linda Cordovana, and five grandchildren, Ellie Tondreau, Brigitte Tondreau, David Tondreau III, Alexis Fahrney and Clay Tondreau.

David was born and raised in Brunswick, the youngest child of Adjutor and Bernadette Tondreau.  He attended St. John the Baptist Catholic Grade School and Brunswick High School, and received a degree in Management Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY.  At RPI, he served in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), was president of Delta Phi fraternity and fondly became ‘Dave’.  After graduating from college, Dave served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, Second Armored Division/Transportation Corps, and later as First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. When Dave returned from active military duty in Germany, he was hired into management by AT&T in New York City. Dave had always wanted to see the mountains, so he accepted a position at the operating telephone company in West Virginia (Chesapeake & Potomac).

His forty-year career with ‘the phone company’ took him to several towns in West Virginia where he served in leadership roles in traffic, construction, engineering, and was appointed to lead a major company-wide restructuring program. He was instrumental in helping the company and its workers successfully navigate through turbulent times of change and resulting upheaval, including numerous labor strikes that often became violent. Dave also contributed to network design and operating innovations to extend and improve service in the challenging mountainous and rural geography of the region. He was brought to company headquarters in Washington, DC in the early 1980s to be the Division Manager for Human Resources. Dave later retired from that position at what was by then Bell Atlantic.

While working in Clarksburg, WV, Dave met the love of his life on a golf course, his future wife Jackie, after noticing her at Mass.  They were married in Charleston, WV where they settled and raised their family of four children. Dave was a lifelong devout Catholic and during his years in Charleston served his parish in numerous lay roles.  After retirement, he spent a number of years volunteering with the Knights of Columbus service organization. 

Dave had a strong passion and respect for the beautiful Maine coastline and waters, especially the Harpswell area known as Tondreau Point where he spent the summers of his boyhood and his golden years. He transferred that passion to his wife and children. Because of his personal efforts, diligence and patience over more than 15 years, Dave made the area more accessible, yet preserved, for many others and for generations to come.

To know him, was to love him.  Dave will be fondly remembered as kind, loving, and caring. He possessed a "joie de vivre” that was infectious. His always-smile and sense of humor made him universally loved by all.  He loved golfing with his family and friends.  If you visited him in Harpswell, you’d likely become his sailing companion, especially if it was race day with the Quohog Bay sailing club.  He also enjoyed playing the organ, singing, working in the yard and on his boat.  But it was his life-long devotion to Jackie, his best friend and true love, that was his core.  

Dave will be greatly missed by family and friends.  Our loss is heaven’s gift.  A celebration of his life will be held later this year as conditions permit. In David’s memory, donations may be made to Bath-Brunswick Respite Care, PO Box 668, Bath, ME 04530. 

The family is most grateful to The McLellan, Bath-Brunswick Area Respite Care, and The Garden at Mid-Coast Senior Health for their kindness and loving care.

Arrangements are by Stetson’s Funeral Home-12 Federal Street-Brunswick where memorial condolences may be expressed at stetsonsfuneralhome.com