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Carlton
F. Willey
Published in Bangor
Daily News on 7/22/2009
ELLSWORTH - Carlton
F. Willey, 78, died Tuesday, July 21, 2009, in Ellsworth. He was born
June 6, 1931, in Cherryfield, to Philip Willey and Marjorie (Morse)
Willey.
He graduated from Cherryfield Academy in 1949. During the summers of
1951 and 1952, he tried out as a pitcher for Bangor News-Boston Braves
Baseball Camp. The Braves invited him to Boston in 1951. He was signed
by the Braves and assigned to Quebec City, Class C. His minor league
career included Toledo, Ohio and Atlanta, Ga.
He was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was stationed
in Germany for two years. Resuming his baseball career, he pitched for
the Triple A Club, Wichita Braves for two years.
At the end of his 1957 season, he was called up to the parent club,
Milwaukee Braves where he played for five years. In 1958, he was named
National League Pitching Rookie of the Year.
He was traded to the New York Mets in 1963. At the old Polo Grounds,
N.Y., he hit a grand slam while his father, Philip; and son, Richie,
watched with Walter Tucker and Gerald Morse all from Cherryfield.
During spring training in St. Petersburg, Fla., while pitching in an
exhibition game with the Detroit Tigers, as Hollis Wyman of Milbridge
watched, Carlton was hit by a line drive, breaking his jaw.
Retiring in 1966, Carlton returned to his beloved Cherryfield, working
in the family hardware store. He scouted for the Philadelphia Phillies
covering the mid-west states.
He was employed by Jasper Wyman as plant manager in Hancock and eventually
he and son Richie started a house painting business.
Survivors include his companion, Maureen Mahan; son, Richard and his
wife, Susan, of Cherryfield; daughter, Jill W. Escamilla and her husband,
Patrick, of Austin, Texas; mother of his children, Nancy Willey of Cherryfield;
grandchildren, Philip Willey of Portland, and Eryn Escamilla of Austin,
Texas; special cousins, Susan Hartford of Dresden and Jane Morse. He
will be missed by his friends of Ridge Road Old Men's Club.
A visitation will be held 2-4 p.m. Friday, July 24, at Bragdon-Kelley
Funeral Home, Milbridge.
A private graveside service will be held Saturday.
The family request memorial donations, in lieu of flowers, be made to
Cherryfield Academy, Eleanor Hampton, P.O. Box 26, Cherryfield, ME 04622.
www.bragdon-kelley.com
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