PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 27, 2026
Brunswick Native, Son of Bowdoin, Maine Renaissance Man – Claude Bernard Bonang, 95, a native of Brunswick, and lifelong resident of the town, passed away on Feb. 21, 2026. Claude’s professional life was a 40-year love letter to the natural world. He did not just teach biology—he lived it. In 1967, he was named the Maine and New England Biology Teacher of the Year, followed later by Bowdoin’s Distinguished Educator Award in 1987. He was a marine biologist by training and a philosopher by nature. In the early 1970s, he traded the chalkboard for the New Meadows River, leading, with his students’ assistance, the first state-funded study of oyster aquaculture, a project that effectively laid the groundwork for today’s growing Casco Bay oyster industry.