Gregoire was born March 28, 1920, in Benton Harbor, Mich., to Louis and Anna Gregoire. Active in the Boy Scouts, he became an Eagle Scout in 1939. He worked on the family farm, and left for the Pacific Coast in 1938. While working on a steam ship, he first saw Alaska. He jumped ship to work in Ketchikan, but later returned to California and joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He married his wife, Elaine, March 1, 1942. He worked on Corps of Engineer projects in Panama, and served with the corps in the South Pacific during World War II. He received a field commission of second lieutenant. Gregoire was one of the first group of Americans to visit Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped on the city in 1945.
After their first child, Harry Jr., was born, the Gregoires moved to Homer in December 1946. They came to Homer because of the availability of federal and, and proved up on a homestead near Fritz Creek. Harry worked in construction and land development, and subdivided and put in many of the downtown streets and neighborhoods. He served on the Public Utility District in the 1950s.
Harry was elected to the Homer City Council in 1989 and was elected mayor in 1990, serving until October 1996. He was known as the Veto Mayor for the many ordinances and resolutions he vetoed, and as the Gavel Mayor for his firm hand with the gavel.
Harry liked cooking, reading Louis L’Amour novels and poetry, and taking walks around town. Until the last years of his life, he would take his daily “walkabout.” Although he was formally educated up to grade six, he never stopped educating himself, taking courses in Spanish, Russian and small-engine repair.
His family said, “His list of priorities was family first, friends second and the community third. He had a great vision for Homer. He loved the community. He always joked. He had a hell of a full life.”
Harry was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Elaine; daughter, Paula Gregoire; and several grandchildren.
He is survived by his brothers and sister, Charles Gregoire, of South Carolina, Louis Gregoire, of Arkansas, and Mary Lau, of California; his children, Harry Gregoire Jr., of Florida, Tom Gregoire, of Ventura, Calif.; Dick Gregoire, of Homer, Dennis Gregoire, of Anchorage, Paul Gregoire, of Homer, and Barbara Gregoire, of Anchor Point; 23 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren.
Longtime Homer resident and former mayor Harry E. Gregoire, 85, died Nov. 17, 2005, at his home. Services were held on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2005, at Glacierview Baptist Church, with burial following in the family plot at Hickerson Memorial Cemetery on Diamond Ridge. His sons Harry Jr., Tom and Dick led the services.
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