Former Hogan-Smith owner Longstaff passes

By Karen Donato
Staff Writer
    Ralph E. Longstaff 78, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 25. Longstaff, born in Littleton on June 23, 1930 was the son of the late Willis and Alice Longstaff. He was the youngest of three, having older brothers Everett of Washington state and Clair of Houlton. He attended the Harrigan one-room school in Littleton, Houlton Jr. High and graduated from Houlton High School in 1948.     After high school he trained in an automotive program in Portland, and then came back to work with his Dad on their Foxcroft Road farm.
    In 1950, he married Justina Smith and they raised five children, Jill of Greene, Lorrie and Janet of Bangor, Lisa of Hartland and Brian of Houlton. He was grandfather to nine grandchildren.
    Longstaff continued in the potato industry for 30 years. Farming with his father on the Foxcroft Road they had 420 acres of land, using 130 for potatoes. That was considered large amount of acreage in the 1950s.
    Longstaff was a member of the Houlton Methodist Church and he and Justina were early members of the Houlton Grange and the Houlton Promenaders Square Dance Club.
    In 1965 he took over the Hogan-Smith Garage on Bangor Street, a business that had been owned by Justina’s father, Wendell Smith and Justin Hogan. Longstaff operated the garage and continued to farm until 1978. Then he managed the business full-time. The Hogan-Smith Garage was a landmark for many years and frequented by both farmers and businessmen of the area. The company sold International farm trucks, trailer trucks and Scouts. Scouts were the early SUV’s of today.
    Longstaff often bid to supply the local school districts with buses, and also provided a wrecker service for the area.
HOGAN AND SMITH  — Justin Hogan and Wendell Smith originally owned the Hogan and Smith Garage, located on Bangor Street. It was frequented by many of the area’s farmers and businessmen. In 1965, Ralph Longstaff took the business over from his father-in-law, Wendell Smith and continued it until his retirement in 1981. Longstaff was a dealer in Gulf products and sold International trucks and used vehicles for many years. The above photo was taken in the 1930s.
    “Wheeling and dealing” vehicles was a life-long passion, and refurbishing them a life-long talent. At an early age he learned to sand the various parts of a car or truck and his father would paint them. As Longstaff developed his skill he began using his father’s insecticide sprayer and substituted paint for the insecticide. He painted whatever needed to be painted. He always replaced the insecticide though, before his Dad caught on to what he was up to.
    Longstaff was a typical farmer, fabricating tools that he needed and doing his own repair work. The family remarked on his ability to repair machinery, appliances, and the heating and plumbing systems. He even did much of his own carpentry work.
    Longstaff serviced or repaired the Walter Davis trucks, another business next door to Hogan-Smith and automobiles from Vic Thompson’s dealership on Mechanic Street.
    Commenting on their father’s flair for anything on wheels, his children Brian, Janet and Lisa recalled them all having their own set of “wheels”.
    “That isn’t to say we could get attached to them,” interjected Janet, “because we might get home from school only to find that our mode of transportation had been sold. But that was OK, because there was always something on the lot to replace it,” she added.
    After retiring in 1981, Longstaff and his wife enjoyed camping throughout Maine and New Brunswick. They continued to travel with the square dance group and he still dabbled in the used car trade.
    Longstaff was also one of 10 area residents who sought to preserve memorabilia from the past. This group and their vision became a reality in 2001 when the Littleton School was purchased and the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum was created.
    Longstaff and the late Carl Hagan were responsible for a lot of the organization and transportation of the many artifacts on display there today. They traveled from one end of the County to the other and all over Maine to look at items appropriate for the museum. Much of the time they donated the items they purchased. Touring the museum today, you will find Longstaff’s name attached to many of the antiques.
    “Sometimes things just appeared with ‘no name’, and that would be a Ralph,” recalled Dot Campbell, historian for the museum.
    The first winter after the purchase of the building, Longstaff and Hagan and their wives organized the Luther and Kay Grass Tool Room. They spent countless hours sorting and then hanging hundreds of woodworking tools on the walls and placing them on shelves. He also helped with many of the other projects and assisted by giving tours to many visitors. No matter the activity, the Longstaffs were there.
    A celebration of his life was held at the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum on Sunday. The gymnasium was filled to capacity as nearly 200 people learned about the private side of Longstaff through a slide show presentation created by his children and grandchildren. Several family members also provided musical selections for his service.
    Speaking at Longstaff’s memorial service, former museum president Francis Fitzpatrick recalled Longstaff as “a man of his word” and how he would go out of his way to help anyone.
    Although his illness slowed him down the past couple of years, he was always interested in what was going on and encouraging the volunteers to keep up the good work.
    One of Longstaff’s dreams for the museum was to build a garage, maybe he was thinking a re-creation of Hogan-Smith.
    As a volunteer at the agricultural museum, myself, we have found “Dreams do come true.”