Harold Bonell | MemoryLights

My father, Dr. Rev. Harold Bonell, is the reason that I live now in Kennebunk.  In 1949, Freedom Farm became a home for a number of refugees who found a second chance for their lives.  The fires in Maine had been stopped and Mr. Ethar Millikan, a farmer here who had suffered a heart attack while fighting the fires, gave one of his farms to be used as a home for refugees.  Dad had been in Europe interviewing refugees in the camps who wanted the opportunity and were able to come to start a new live in America.  Most of them had been farmers, and fortunately they were needed and wanted in Maine.  Dad would pick them up from the beautiful old train station in Portland, and they would sleep their first night in the parsonage before coming to their temporary home at Freedom Farm. As a child I was able to go to the Farm with my father, play with the children, and help with the haying!

As a pastor my father not only gave to the congregation, to families that had experienced war, and his time and love to his own family.  I have been so fortunate to have grown up in a family with the example of giving to others.  Thanks, dad.

Honored by Miriam Malkasian