SOUTH PORTLAND — Howard Roy Taggart Sr., 90, died March 31, 2015, at the VA Medical Center at Togus. Born Sept. 24, 1924, in Camden, N.J., he was the son of Lorenzo and Lydia (Higgs) Taggart.

During World War II, he served with the U.S. Navy on PT boats and survived a kamikaze attack while aboard a PT tender. In 1946, he was honorably discharged from the Navy and in 1948, joined the fire department in Camden, N.J., retiring as a district chief in 1969. He married Janet Estelle Werking on Aug. 30, 1949. In 1969, they moved to Camden, Maine, and in the mid 1990s they moved to South Portland.

Howard was a 32 degree member of Amity Masonic Lodge, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was a former member and past president of the Camden Lions Club in Camden, Maine. His hobbies included genealogy, carpentry and history.

Surviving are his two children, Lynne M. Taggart of Brunswick and Howard R. Taggart Jr. and his wife, Carla Severson Taggart, of Camden; three grandchildren, Allyson L. Taggart of Appleton, Holly E. Anderson and her husband, Josh, of Lisbon, and Howard R. Taggart of Camden; five great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Janet; five sisters; and two brothers.

Services and interment will be private and held at the convenience of the family.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Camden Lions Club, P.O. Box 235, Camden, ME 04843.

Arrangements are with Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service.