CARRABASSETT VALLEY – This community is mourning the loss of C. Neal Trask Jr., 84, a long-time resident whose work impacted thousands of outdoor enthusiasts and, in fact, the very industry that built the town.
Neal, whose first name was Claude was known to most as Neal and as Pa to his family and many of the legion of his friends, passed away Nov. 30.
He was born January 18, 1938 in Greenville, to Dorothy and Claude Trask. He grew up in Milo, where his roots in the outdoors had him running a trap line as a young man, and delivering newspapers, to save for college. He graduated from Milo High School in 1956 and from the University of Maine in 1960 with a major in mechanical engineering.
Neal’s successful career began with Ingersoll-Rand in their Pump and Compressor Division. He and his business partner Chuck Decrow founded the Maine Ingersoll-Rand distributor, Trask-Decrow Machinery, in 1983 in South Portland.
Neal was a pioneer in bringing snow making to the ski industry, developing the use of vertical turbine pumps that provided the thousands of pounds of pressure required at the top of mountains with greater efficiency and lower cost. Trask-Decrow systems are in use in ski areas all over the country and the world, notably in Naguno Prefecture in Japan where Trask and his staff personally supervised the snowmaking installation for the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Neal discovered Carrabassett Valley, then known as Jerusalem Township, as a Sugarloaf skier with friends from the university in the 1950s. He started the “cabin” that eventually became his home in 1965 and upon retirement in 1995, Neal and his wife Linda moved full time to Carrabassett Valley. He continued to stay busy during his “retirement”, serving on the town budget committee and the Carrabassett Valley Sanitary District and for 45 years or more he ran the Spring Farm Association, the homeowners organization of over 90 properties where he lived.
In 1999 Neal joined with a handful of friends and neighbors in founding the Carrabassett Valley Outdoor Association to support outdoor recreation and conservation, which today boasts over a thousand members. Almost immediately he seized upon the need for a safe area for target practice and started what was to become a leading firearms range with over 500 members and trap, rifle, pistol, five-stand and archery ranges. Earlier this year he was honored by the outdoor association with the facility’s renaming as the CVOA Neal Trask Range in honor of the two decades of his work in chairing and developing that site overlooking the Bigelow Mountain Range.
Family, friends and the outdoors were Neal’s true passions. He thoroughly enjoyed every season Maine offers. Whether it was hunting, fishing, canoeing, skiing or simply being in the woods, Neal was a well-respected expert in all he pursued. Family and friends were always Neal’s top priority. He was universally regarded as an “all around great guy” and was always available to lend a hand or offer a chair at his kitchen table. The Trask’s door at Spring Farm was always open for friends to pop in for a quick hello or borrow a tool that only Neal would have.
Neal loved his faithful Sugarloaf “Locker Room Crew” which he spent many mornings with skiing the mountain he loved. Neal also loved dogs, particularly Labrador Retrievers, which held a special spot in his heart.
Neal is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Linda; his two children Mike Trask of Kingfield and Terri Trask and partner Ian Bexon of Falmouth; four grandchildren Michelle Gibbons and husband Jake of Bridgton, Sarah Trask and partner Justin Marshall of Gray, Nathan Leahy-Trask of San Diego, and Eryn Trask of Auburn; two great-grandchildren Kaya and Rowen; his brother Fred Trask of Milo, Maine; nieces and nephews and their families which he adored and many dear friends.
Neal was predeceased by his parents, Claude Neal Trask and Dorothy (Bernard) Trask, and his sister Gayle Trask Kiernan.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the CVOA Neal Trask Range in his memory or the family requests that you spend quality time in the great outdoors with your loved ones.
A Celebration of Life will be held at The Rack, 5016 Access Rd, Carrabassett Valley on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at 1 p.m. (Please bring stories of your adventures with Neal!). A private graveside burial will be held in the spring. Memories may be shared in his book of Memories at www.wilesrc.com. Cremation care has been cared for and provided by the Wiles Remembrance Center of Farmington.
A very special gentleman … will be missed.