KITTERY POINT — Page Arird Mead Jr., 85, of Kittery Point, died peacefully early Sunday morning, August 14, surrounded by family at home, following a three-year period of failing health. Born January 26, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey, Page was the son of Page Mead Sr. and Helen Gordon Mead.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Alexandra "Pipe" Mead, Kittery Point, his daughter, Jennifer Page Mead, Kittery Point, and his son Alexander Page Mead, Kittery. He also leaves his nephew, Fritz Mead, and his sister-in-law, Martha Mead, both of Winchester, Virginia.  He was predeceased by his brother Gordon Mead.

Page served in the United States Air Force for four years before attending Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, where he earned a B.A. in Economics.

For 40 years, Page was a publisher's representative of college textbooks working for Harper and Row, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, John Wiley and Sons, and others. During that time, he also started his own small publishing company Housesmiths Press publishing one book The Timber Framing Book that continues to do well to this day.

Page loved his community and was always active in the communities of Kittery and Kittery Point and was affectionally referred to by some as the "Major of Kittery Point. For many years, he served on the Kittery Parks Commission, managed the monitoring of the Kittery Point beaches under the Maine Healthy Beaches program and was an active supporter and Treasurer of the Kittery Democrats. He regularly shared his opinions about issues affecting his town at town meetings and at his monthly coffee klatch.  In his private and family life he was a creative cook, a knowledgeable gardener (following in the footsteps of his relative Johnny Appleseed), an enthusiastic fisherman and a great lover of animals, especially Labrador Retrievers and Boston Terriers

Page was always concerned about other people, letting them know that a storm was coming, that the ice on his pond was good for skating, that it was time for him to rototill their garden or that a town meeting was that night. He will be greatly missed. As Page always said, hang in!

A celebration of his life is planned for this fall. To leave online condolences please visit www.jspelkeyfuneralhome.com . Care for Mead family has been entrusted to the JS Pelkey and Son Funeral Home.