Philip M. Jean of Milford passed away Monday, October 17, 2011 at the age of 73. He enjoyed a life well lived, working hard and playing hard far longer than he had expected. His body failed him before his love for life had.

He was born, raised and educated in the CT river towns of Essex, Old Saybrook, and Middletown. When he joined his family in Milford in the mid ‘50s, he was expected to get a job in a machine shop. But his love of the outdoors won and he went to work in the woods logging with Maurice Guay and his horses. He also worked for Chester Whitten at his sawmill on Whitten Road and tried cabinet making in Nashua. But his real passion was all things with engines, and most of his working life was spent repairing and rebuilding cars, first at Fitchburg Ford and at LaPrads’ Auto Body in MA and then for several years at his own shop on Route 101A in Amherst. He spent the remaining years of his career as the machinist and methods technician in the gas turbine division at Hitchiner Mfg. Co. where he retired in December 2005.

He was an Army Veteran and served as a guard dog handler in the Army Military Police unit in the early ‘60s.

He passed on his love for all things outdoors and sports-related to his sons by spending summers camping, hiking, fishing, boating and dirt biking.

Winters were at Temple Mountain Ski Area and ice fishing, and later snowmobiling in the North Woods. He coached De Molay basketball for a short time, played forward on a hockey team in Fitchburg for several years and was a huge Boston Bruins fan. He enjoyed motorcycle trips around the country and across Canada with his wife and was able to spend a few winters in Florida since retirement, golfing every day. He also built and flew scale model RC airplanes and loved the annual float flys.

Besides his wife Gail, he leaves behind four sons and their families: Michael & Kate of Nashua, Marc & Denise, Matthew & Sissy, and Christopher & Susan, all of MA; and the smartest granddaughter in the world, Melissa Jean of Nashua; a brother, Robert of Dublin; a sister, Lorraine of Clearwater, FL; a brother-in-law, James Townsend of Rye; two sisters-in-law, Julie Townsend of CT and Beverly Belden of Hillsborough.

Memorial visiting hours are Monday, October 24th from 4:00-8:00 pm in the Smith & Heald Funeral Home, 63 Elm Street, Milford. Donations in his memory may be made to the Humane Society for Greater Nashua, 24 Ferry Road, Nashua, NH 03064-8109 or Share Outreach, Inc., 1 Columbus Avenue, Milford, NH 03055. Arrangements are in the care of Smith & Heald Funeral Home, Milford. To leave an online condolence, please go to www.smith-heald.com.