Alvin Fountain Gamage 

SARATOGA – Alvin Fountain Gamage, 97, died October 21, 2026, after a brief illness.  He was born at home in Bristol, ME, the first son of John Carter Fountain and Martha (Grauballe) Gamage.  He attended local schools, Lincoln Academy, and the University of Maine in Orono. Immediately after graduation in 1951, he was drafted into the US Marine Corps. He was based at Marine Barracks, 8th & I, in Washington DC, where he marched in parades, met General Eisenhower’s plane when he returned from Europe, and marched in his Inaugural Parade.  Thanks to the GI Bill, he graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree in Library Science.  He worked as a librarian in the Enoch Pratt Free Library system in Baltimore, MD, Head librarian at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, VT, Reference librarian at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, and Reference and Head Librarian at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.

While at the U of M, he was active in the Maine Masque, and later with Schuylerville Community Theater, both on stage and backstage.  He loved reading, opera, genealogy, gardening, historic houses, heritage apples, and Newfoundland dogs.

 He is survived by his wife, Gay (Kimball), his daughter, Evaline, his son, Rawson Nathaniel (Kristina), and their children, Pilar Grace, Petra Rose, and Wilder Kimball Gamage, his brothers John (Cynthia), Frank (Rhoda) and their children and grandchildren, all of Maine.

 Friends and neighbors are invited to visit the family at 226 County Rt 67, Saratoga Springs, on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 1, between 2:00 and 6:00pm.  A service and burial will be at a later date at the Harrington Cemetery, Bristol, ME, where Alvin will rest with many generations of his family.

 In lieu of flowers please send memorial donations to Opera Saratoga, 19 Roosevelt Drive, Ste 215, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 or https://www.operasaratoga.org/donate.