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LACONIA - Robert E. Mortensen, 86, of Morningside Drive, died Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2004, at the Lakes Region General Hospital after a period of declining health.
Mr. Mortensen was born in Berlin, NH, April 4, 1918, the son of Alfred and Annie (Oleson) Mortensen.
He graduated from Berlin High School. As a young man he worked as an automobile mechanic in Berlin.
Shortly after the start of World War II, he enlisted in the Navy. During his Navy service, he was assigned to LSTs as a diesel engine mechanic. He participated in the amphibious landings in Sicily, Anzio in Italy and at D-Day in Normandy. Later he was transferred to the Pacific Theater where he took part in operations in Okinawa and Nagasaki in the days immediately following the dropping of the atomic bomb. He returned to the Berlin area at the conclusion of the war and lived in Gorham.
In 1948, he went to work for Public Service Company of New Hampshire. In 1949, he was assigned to the Conway area and lived in Madison. He was transferred to Laconia in 1959. At the time of his retirement from Public Service in 1984, he was supervisor of the company's substations in the northern half of the state.
As a youngster and into his 20s, he was involved in competitive ski-jumping. He was a member of the Nansen Ski Club of Berlin and for a number of years held a distance record on the 80 meter hill of the Nansen Ski Jump.
Mr. Mortensen continued to live at his home on Morningside Drive until this past July when he moved to Forestview Manor, an assisted living facility in Meredith. He was a communicant of Sacred Heart Church and a member of Wilkins-Smith American Legion Post 1 of Laconia.
He was predeceased by his wife, Barbara, who died in July 2000.
Survivors include a son, Michael Mortensen, of Gilford; nieces, nephews and cousins.
Calling Hours will be held on Friday, September 17, 2004 from 7:00-9:00PM in the Carriage House of the Wilkinson-Beane Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Sacred Heart Church, 291 Union Avenue, Laconia, NH on Saturday, September 18, 2004 at 10:00 AM. Rev. Adrien Longchamps, Pastor of the Church, will celebrate. Burial will be in the family lot at the Holy Family Cemetery, Church Street, Gorham, NH on Monday, September 20, 2004 at 2:30 PM.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to New Hampshire Catholic Charities, Inc., 215 Myrtle Street, Manchester, NH 03104.
Wilkinson-Beane Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH is in charge of the arrangements.
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