1950 – 2016
AUBURN — Richard J. Harlow, 66, passed away Wednesday, Dec. 21, with his family by his side at the Androscoggin Hospice House in Auburn.
Dick was born Nov. 18, 1950, in Lewiston, to Frederick and Rose (Langlois) Harlow. Growing up, Dick was enrolled at St Patrick’s and graduated from Lewiston High School in 1968. He was a singer with the St Patrick’s Choir and performed at the Vatican for Pope John II and at the World’s Fair in Osaka, Japan. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maine at Orono in 1972.
The first 12 years of Dick’s postgraduate career were spent at Keuffel and Esser in Kennebunk, and the Reece Corp. in Gorham. Dick bought his first home in Wells, and it was there that he lovingly cared for his Dad during the final months of his battle with lung cancer.
In 1984, he began working for Apollo Computer in Exeter, N.H. By 1987, Apollo was the largest manufacturer of network work stations in the world. In 1989, Hewlett Packard bought out Apollo and in 1998 Dick was transferred to HP’s Fort Collins, Colo., campus. Settling down in Windsor, Colo., he found his new surroundings to be very much to his liking. Gone were the days of skiing Maine’s hard-pack blue ice; powder days became the weekend exercise. His work with HP as an inventory control team manager led to traveling extensively throughout Texas, Great Britain and Southeast Asia to help handle transitions for the company. Calm, cool and always collected, he was the perfect choice for that daunting task. He continued with HP until his retirement in 2010.
In 1991, Dick met Marc Pomroy, who became his lifelong partner. Together they made a great team. The Colorado vanity license plates of SKICRZY and SKIKRZY spoke to their weekend winter pursuit. They always made it a point to return to Maine for as much of the summer as Dick’s schedule would allow. Sadly, Mark predeceased Dick in 2008.
He is predeceased by his parents, Fred and Rose Harlow; and his partner, Marc Pomroy. He is survived by his brother, Stephen and wife, Valancy (Rutschman) Harlow; nephew, Cameron Harlow; sister, Linda and husband, Wayne Penley; nieces, Laura Penley Bragdon, Ellen Penley-Theis and Rachael (Penley) Juntura; six grandnieces and grandnephews; mother-in-law, Marcia and husband, Kenny Stratton; and lifelong friends, Ken LeBlanc and Bob Purinton.
To share memories, condolences and pictures, please visit www.lynchbrothers.com.
Send questions/comments to the editors.