Bruce Courtney McGorrill ’53

Bruce Courtney McGorrill ’53 died on March 28, 2006, in Portland, Maine.

Born on June 22, 1931, in Portland, he prepared for college at Deering High School and became a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity at Bowdoin. Following his graduation in 1953, he was for a year a trainee with Vick Chemical Company in New York City before becoming an announcer with WCSH-TV in Portland. He became the station’s national sales manager in 1955, general sales manager in 1960, and station manager in 1974. For many years, he was executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Maine Radio and Television Company, whose holdings include WCSH-TV in Portland, WLBZ-TV in Bangor, and KMEG-TV in Sioux City, IA. He served a two-year term on the television board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters. He was the chief executive officer until 1994 and retired from the company in 1996. In his retirement, he worked as a broadcast consultant to the U.S. State Department, traveling to newly democratic Eastern European countries. Earlier in his career, he served a term as president of the Maine Junior Chamber of Commerce and was the 1960 recipient of the Maine Jaycee Distinguished Service Award. In 1989, he completed a term as vice chair of the NBC Television Affiliate Board of Directors. During his career, he was a director for the Television Bureau of Advertising and the Portland Children’s Theater; was a member of the advisory committee for the Maine YMCA camp; was state chair for National Library Week in 1960; and was general manager for the Portland Sea Hawks football team in 1964. In 1959, he was chosen as Greater Portland’s “Young Man of the Year.” Also a Downeast humorist, he had a number of successful albums to his credit, including “Saturday Night in Dover-Foxcroft” and “Good Night, Phoebe.” He appeared on national television and made guest appearances all over the country. Surviving are his wife, Donna Tilton McGorrill, whom he married in 1958; two daughters, Melanie Lavoie of Cumberland and Evangeline MacHale of Manhattan Beach, CA; two sons, Christopher C. McGorrill ’83 of Portland and Jonathan McGorrill of Portland; a brother, John M. McGorrill ’48 of Falmouth; and six grandchildren.