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Maurice Senechal and his wife, Sandy, met while playing golf. They enjoyed a healthy competition on the golf course.

PASSAGES

Each day the newsroom selects one obituary and seeks to learn more about the life of a person who has lived and worked in Maine. We look for a person who has made a mark on the community or the person's family and friends in lasting ways.

WESTBROOK — People always were attracted to Maurice Senechal, wherever he went.

"He was the social butterfly," said his wife, Sandy Senechal. "He had a wonderful personality – so sincere."

Mr. Senechal died Saturday at the age of 78.

"I think he knew half of the state of Maine, and I think he might have been related to another quarter of them," his wife said.

After serving his country as a Marine in the Korean War, Mr. Senechal returned home to work as an insurance salesman and support the three daughters and one son he had with his first wife, Marie Senechal.

His son, Guy Senechal, said his father's career fit his personality.

"He was a really outgoing guy. He loved to make friends. If there was a characteristic that would highlight him, that is one of them. He loved people," Guy Senechal said.

Selling insurance "was perfect for him because he was meeting people. He was also helping them achieve what they wanted to achieve," his wife said. "He was very genuine in his approach."

"He traveled the state and, wherever he went, there were people he touched and lives he touched," his son said.

Mr. Senechal's kindness showed through in many things he did throughout his life, including his community service through the Knights of Columbus and the Kiwanis Club. He also had a genuine interest in his children's activities and supported their efforts in marching band.

His son remembers trying out for football at Westbrook High School, but really feeling the desire to be in the marching band.

"He came to me and said, 'Look, I know you want to be in the band and you're doing this just for me. Don't worry about football. Do what you want to do. I'll support you.' That was the kind of guy he was. Very generous," his son said.

One daughter, Suzanne Murawski, said all of Mr. Senechal's children were involved in the marching band and he was instrumental in fundraising and chaperoning various trips.

"He had a strong sense of community and he wanted to contribute to the process," his son said, an attribute that Mr. Senechal learned from watching his father participate in various community organizations.

When he served on Westbrook's school board, his daughter said, Mr. Senechal was instrumental in getting a pool installed in the junior high school.

"When he believed in something, he really put his all into it. It was never halfway," she said of the many things Mr. Senechal was involved with throughout the years.

He always took time for his children, teaching them how to ski and trying to share his love of golf with them, his daughter said. His son said they started learning to ski at Mount Abram, and later at Pleasant Mountain.

"I can remember, in high school, if we had a school day off, he wouldn't go to work. He'd take us all skiing," his daughter said. "We had this big old Lincoln, and the four of us kids, we'd all cram in. There was always room for an extra person so we always had room to bring friends with us."

Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at: ebouthillette@pressherald.com