DENMARK- John Leslie Watson, age 77, of Denmark, Maine, passed away on the evening of August 3, 2026. John was born to the late Rodney and Julia (Junne) Watson on February 4, 1949. He was the middle sibling of five children. He attended elementary school in Denmark and graduated from Fryeburg Academy in 1967. John married Mary Lee Durgin on August 3, 1968, in Hiram, Maine. They were married for 58 years at the time of his passing. John was an active member in the community. He served on the first Board of Appeals in Denmark. He was a former member of the MSAD 72 school board and was also a past member of the town budget committee. John served in the United States Army Reserves. He worked at the former Keddy Mill in South Windham. For several years he worked at the Moir Company in Denmark. He was a self employed logger (John L. Watson Timber Harvesting) for 35 years, retiring in 2016. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he and Mary owned and bred Standardbred horses. They vacationed for over forty years on Prince Edward Island, Canada. There, they enjoyed the harness racing spectacle of Old Home Week and the Gold Cup and Saucer Race. In 2002 they built an oceanfront cottage in Cumberland, Prince Edward Island. For the past twenty-four years they spent several weeks at the cottage each summer. John’s passion was the outdoors. He was a fisherman and a hunter. He loved to fish for trout. In retirement, he supplied many friends with a limit or more of brook trout throughout the spring and summer. He was a skilled woodsman and hunter. He shot numerous bears and deer. While his family is grieving, the trout, bears, and deer are resting much easier. John was preceded in death by both parents and brother Ronald Watson. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Mary Watson, (nee Durgin); Two sons, Sean (Pamela) and Daniel (Karen) all of Denmark; Five grandchildren; Allison (Adam), Jack, William, Ashley, and Timothy. He is also survived by his brother Gary (Donna) of Prineville, Oregon; his sister Mary (Sam) of Tamworth, New Hampshire and his sister Kathleen (Leo) of Atkinson, New Hampshire. Calling hours will be held from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on Friday, August 14th at Poitras, Neal, & York Funeral Home, 71 Maple Street, in Cornish, Maine. There will be no funeral.