Obituary of Philip Andrew Guerrette

FUNERAL MASS LIVESTREAM HERE

Philip A. Guerrette, 82, husband of Claudette Guerrette, died December 11, 2025, at his home in Glenburn after many years of health issues. He was born on Feb. 28, 1943, in New Rochelle, NY, the son of Antonio and Florence (Koss) Guerrette.

Phil was a US Air Force veteran serving 8 years from June 1963 to 1971. He married Claudette in 1965 and spent the first six years of their marriage following military orders, moving to Germany, Mississippi, North Dakota, Maine, and New York, and eventually settling in Connecticut, where they raised their four kids.  Phil was proud to have graduated from Western Connecticut State University in 1977, when it was still called Western Connecticut State College. He worked for Pitney Bowes as a software engineer for many years, became a Knight of Columbus in 1987, and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming State Deputy in 2006. The Knights were where he got involved in charity work, especially helping to coordinate Olympic Town for the International Special Olympics when it was hosted in New Haven in 1995. He enjoyed being active in his church. He was a man of many talents and interests, including being a skilled, self-taught woodworker who remodeled his kitchens, designing and building all the cabinets himself. But his greatest passion and the hobby he devoted the most time to was his meticulously curated and cataloged stamp collection, which once included over 100,000 stamps. He could talk endlessly about stamps and sold thousands each year to collectors around the world.  

In 2008, he impulsively decided to sell the house in Bethel, CT and move back to Maine. They bought a large house on Pushaw Lake and, shortly after, a boat. He would gleefully take his grandkids on boat rides around the lake and was delighted when the backyard was completely littered with all the canoes, kayaks, life jackets, and floats they would dig out of the garage. 

Hoping to entice visitors to stay and enjoy the lakehouse, he and his son, Tim, built a space above the three-car garage that could accommodate 10 guests at once, and nothing made him and Claudette happier than when those beds were filled. 

A self-proclaimed picky eater, he jokingly referred to himself as a porkavore, enjoying at least one serving each day, with bacon being his favorite. His favorite way to punctuate a celebration was with a glass of bourbon.

His kids want to express their deepest gratitude to his wonderful, loving neighbors, who looked after and helped both him and Claudette countless times when we couldn’t be there. They contributed in truly invaluable ways, and we can’t thank you enough.

Surviving are their four children, Toni Federici and her husband, Edward of Glenburn; Christopher Guerrette and his wife, Donna of Durham, NH; Benjamin Guerrette and his wife, Beth of Encinitas, CA, and Timothy Guerrette of Dover, NH and nine grandchildren, Kylie, Zachary, Sara, Jonathan, Christian, Eva, Andre, Lucien, and Melody; two sisters, Helen Crockett of Pownal, ME, and Genie Smith of Colorado Springs, CO; and one brother, Adrien Guerrette of Corona, CA. He was predeceased by his wife of 58 years, Claudette Guerrette, in 2023.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 AM Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Mary's Catholic Church, 768 Ohio St., Bangor.  Family and friends may visit 9:30 - 10:30 AM at Kiley & Foley Funeral Service, 299 Union St., Bangor immediately prior on Friday. Burial will be at a later date at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Lewiston. The funeral Mass will be live-streamed on the parish website https://stpaulbangor.me/live-streamed-masses-1 and a reception time will be immediately afterward at Seasons Restaurant, Bangor.

For those who wish, memorial contributions may be made to Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund of NC, c/o Mahoney Agency, 4030 Wake Forest Rd., # 300, Raleigh, NC 27609 or at https://www.fmcncfund.org/  Messages and memories may be shared with his family on the tribute wall of kileyandfoley.com.