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Hazel Crawford
ACTON — Hazel Florence Littlefield Crawford, 96, died Wednesday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at Goodall Hospital in Sanford.
She was born June 13, 1903 in Shapleigh, the fifth child of Barney D. and Sarah H. Sweatt Littlefield, and attended the Ross Schoolhouse in Shapleigh until grade seven.
Family members say she and her siblings walked three miles each way to school, passing over Walnut Hill. If the weather was bad, her father or brother would take them to school by horse and buggy.
At the age of 11 her father was killed, and at 13 she went to work in Sanford as a housekeeper for Eddie Groom. At 15, she took a job at the Tom Plante Shoe Company on Mill Street in Springvale.
When she was 16, she married her first husband, Osborn Burgess, on Feb. 22, 1920. They moved to West Peru, then Dixfield, where she raised eight children.
On Dec. 25, 1944 she married Harold D. Crawford.
She worked at the Goodall Mills until she retired in 1954.
Survivors say Mrs. Crawford was never one to travel, but did go to Virginia to visit her son and his family. She was content to be a homemaker, they added, and tended to her vegetable and flower gardens. She enjoyed canning and was an excellent seamstress. "She made the best homemade rolls and apple pies you could ever eat," a daughter said.
Mrs. Crawford lived at her home until age 95, doing her own cooking, cleaning and tending to her birdfeeders.
In December 1998 she received the Boston Post Cane, given to the oldest member of the community, and considered it quite an honor.
Her husband died Nov. 3, 1987.
Survivors include one son, Paul F. Burgess of Woodbridge, Va.; four daughters, her caregiver Gloria Crawford Pillsbury of Shapleigh, Ruth Lehoux of Sanford, Clara Burgess of Springvale and Dorothy Crosby of Mexico; a sister, Eva Grant Nemetz of Shapleigh and Springvale; 32 grandchildren, 91 great-grandchildren, 36 great-great-grandchildren and 16 nieces and nephews.
Bertha DiGiovanni
BIDDEFORD — Bertha Marta DiGiovanni, 86, of Biddeford died Saturday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at Southern Maine Medical Center.
She was born April 25, 1913 in Lawrence, Mass., a daughter of Florian and Martha (Kibildis) Dwarkas, and was educated in Lawrence schools.
Mrs. DiGiovanni and her husband owned and operated Larry's Pastry Shop in Lawrence for more than 20 years. She then moved to Miami, Fla., where she was employed as a salesperson for Jordan Marsh.
For the past 20 years, Mrs. DiGiovanni had lived in Ocean Park and Biddeford.
She was predeceased by her husband, Lorenzo DiGiovanni.
Survivors include a son, Ronald of Alton, N.H.; a daughter, Marilyn Goachee of Newtown, Conn.; and three grandchildren.
Richard Keefe
LYMAN — Richard F. Keefe, 76, of Hanson Lane, died Tuesday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford after a brief illness.
He was born in Bennington, Vt., on Oct. 10, 1923, a son of William P. and Anna Murphy Keefe. He graduated from Bennington High School in 1942. He then attended the University of Vermont until World War II, when he served with the Naval Air Corps. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1950.
Mr. Keefe began his sales career with the Underwood Corp. in Washington, D.C. His involvement with the construction industry began with National Gypsum in Washington, D.C., New York and Massachusetts. He later joined Dragon Cement in Thomaston, where he worked for 25 years representing the company in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He lived in Framingham, Mass., for 34 years.
As a member of St. George's Church there, he taught religious education, becoming the first principal of its C.C.D. program.
Mr. Keefe was a member of several associations involved with the cement and construction industry. He was also a member of the Marlborough Fish and Game Club. He enjoyed
hunting
, fishing and recreation at the family camp in the Berkshires. Upon retiring to Maine in 1992, he traveled throughout Maine enjoying its outdoors and scenic beauty.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Catherine Zwick Keefe of Lyman; five daughters, Catherine Petrillo of Pembroke, Mass., Mary Keefe of Scarborough, Sarah Engman of Framingham, Patricia McBride of Ashland, Mass. and Bridget Cammarata of Framingham; two sons, Richard F. Keefe Jr. of Dunbarton, N.H., and James Keefe of Limington; a brother, Robert Keefe of Nashua, N.H.; and 13 grandchildren.
Blanche Lachance
SPRINGVALE — Blanche Lachance, 93, of Sherburne Street, died Wednesday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at the Newton Center in Sanford.
She was born Sept. 5, 1906 in St. Helene, Quebec, Canada
, a daughter of Adelard and Leontine (Goudreau) Camire, and attended schools there.
She moved to the United States in 1922, to Connecticut in 1960 and returned to this area in 1975.
Mrs. Lachance was employed by Kesslen Shoe in Kennebunk for 25 years, and owned and operated the Lachance Mill Street Market from 1950 to 1960. She was also employed in the cafeteria of the former Nasson College in Springvale, retiring in 1979.
She was a communicant of Notre Dame Church and a member of the Ladies of St., Anne.
Her husband, Edward Lachance, died in 1982.
Survivors include a son, Donald of Effingham, N.H.; a daughter, Angie (Mrs. Gerard) Boissonneault of Springvale; a brother, Ronald "Cabby" Camire of Springvale; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Francis Lamontagne
KENNEBUNK — Francis "Nig" Lamontagne, 72, of Winter Street, died Tuesday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at his home.
He was born in Jamaica Plain, Mass. on May 23, 1927, a son of Wilfred and Josephine Blanchette Lamontagne, and graduated from Thornton Academy in Saco in 1948.
He was employed by the Biddeford Journal, Portsmouth Herald and the Kennebunk Star.
Mr. Lamontagne was a Navy veteran of World War II and a member of American Legion Post 74. An organizer of Babe Ruth Baseball, he coached baseball for 25 years, was a volunteer for the Kennebunk Fire Department and served on the town's Recreational Commission.
He was a member of Christ Church.
Survivors include his wife, Constance "Taylor" Lamontagne of Kennebunk; a son, Dennis of West Kennebunk; a daughter, Nancy (Mrs. Edward) Meehan of Kennebunk; a brother, Robert of Saco; and four grandchildren.
Joan MacDonald
PARSONSFIELD — Joan B. MacDonald, 64, of Fenderson Road, died Monday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at Maine Medical Center in Portland after a long illness.
She was born in Parkman on July 6, 1935, a daughter of Basil and Affie Grant Perkins, and graduated from Parkman High School.
She worked as a stitcher at the Fryeburg and Limerick shoe shops, and more recently worked at the Grey Barn Nursery in Cornish.
Mrs. MacDonald was a member of the Kezar Falls Assembly of God Church.
Her hobbies included gardening, fishing and other outdoor activities. She was a fan of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots.
Surviving are her husband, Alan MacDonald of Parsonsfield; her mother of Hollis; two sons, Keith Tibbetts of Kezar Falls and Kenneth Tibbetts of Brownfield; one daughter, Kathy Lane of Cornish; five brothers, Ted Perkins of Harpswell, John of Westbrook, Randall of Manchester, N.H., Michael of Bangor and Brian of Limington; two sisters, Evelyn Goldbaum of Atkinson, N.H., and Patricia Cote of Hollis; and seven grandchildren.
Eleanor Mitchell
PARSONSFIELD — Eleanor J. Mitchell, 82, of North Road died Sunday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association, Brookline, Mass., after a brief illness.
She was born in Norfolk, Va., May 6, 1917, a daughter of Lester and Margaret Flint Jacobs. As the daughter of a career Army Corps of Engineers officer, she moved around the country and attended schools in Virginia and Louisiana. She also attended Louisiana State University. In 1937 her family moved to Maine.
IN 1941 she married Alexander Mitchell and served in the Women's Army Corps from 1943 to 1945. She and her husband settled in Lawrence, Mass., before moving to Delaware. She returned to Maine in 1967 and taught special education at Porter Elementary School.
Mrs. Mitchell finished her college degree at the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham in 1974. She retired from teaching in 1976.
She was involved in the North Parsonsfield Public Library and the first Church of Christ Scientist, Fryeburg.
Her hobbies included knitting, sewing, bird watching, travel and reading. She was also involved in a neighborhood book club.
Her husband of 52 years died in 1993.
Survivors include a son, Ralph A, Mitchell of Limington; two daughters, Sara M. Gallant of Waldoboro and Elizabeth J. Ward of Parsonsfield; one brother, Ellis Jacobs of Mullen, Neb.; one sister, Edith Sternberg of Woodbury, Conn.; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Thelma Morris
SANFORD — Thelma M. Morris, 95, formerly of Jagger Mills Apartments, died Tuesday morning (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at Greenwood Center after a lengthy illness.
She was born in Springfield, Ohio, on Jan. 27, 1904, the daughter of Harold and Nellie Ziegler Kent, and attended schools there.
A resident of Sanford since 1989, she lived most of her life in Lynn, Mass.
She enjoyed sewing.
Her husband Charles Morris, died in 1967.
Survivors include a daughter, Barbara Larrabee of Springvale, a grandson, David Larrabee, and a granddaughter, Susan Auger, both of Sanford, and seven great-grandchildren.
Beverly Tibbetts
OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Beverly Tibbetts, 71, formerly of Washington Avenue, died Wednesday (listed Thursday, November 4, 1999) at the Gorham House in Gorham.
She was born Nov. 22, 1927 in New York.
She was the widow of Charles H. Tibbetts, who died in 1987.
Survivors include a daughter, June Kirkland of Valrico, Fla.
