Elmer M. “Luke” Sewall
GREENLAND, N.H. – Elmer M. “Luke” Sewall died on April 20, 2023, at the age of 104. Family members were present with him at the time of his passing.
Born on Nov. 30, 1918, he was raised on the family farm in Greenland and educated in the local schools. He was a graduate of Portsmouth High School, Fryeburg Academy, Bowdoin College and Tufts Medical School.
Elmer served with honor in the US Navy at the end of World War II in 1946 as a ship’s doctor aboard the USS Charles Carroll. The vessel was for transporting troops, moving occupation troops to Japan and returning veterans back to their homecoming. In 1949, he moved his young family to Orono, Maine and established his medical practice. Luke, as he was affectionately known by family, friends and colleagues alike, served his adopted community with compassion and kindness. His sense of civic duty extended beyond his responsibilities to his family and his patients, with his service as school physician in Orono, membership in the area Kiwanis Club and as a selectman to the town council.
In 1977, he and the love of his life Barbara retired and relocated back to Greenland where they built their retirement home. They spent many happy years traveling the world and hosting their growing family of grandchildren.
Luke was predeceased by his wife Barbara in 2008. He is survived by his five children, Stephen, Douglas, Janet, David and Margaret and their extended families to include 12 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. We have lost a humble and honorable servant from the greatest generation.
All are welcome to attend a service of remembrance on Friday, April 28 at 3 p.m. at the J.Verne Wood Funeral Home – Buckminster Chapel, 84 Broad St. Portsmouth, NH. Burial will be private.
For online condolences, visit http://www.jvwoodfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the direction and care of the J. Verne Wood Funeral Home – Buckminster Chapel.
Those who wish to make a memorial donation in
Elmer’s name are encouraged to do so to either:
the American Heart
Association at
http://www.heart.org/donate or:
The American Cancer Society at
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