Month: April 2013

Yarmouth, ME – Virginia “Ginny” Lee Lewis, 63, passed on to be with the Lord on Friday, April 26th, 2013, at her home in Yarmouth following a brief illness. She was the wife of Alan P. Lewis and they had been married for 42 years.

She was born on August 4, 1949, in Portland, Maine, the daughter of Arthur B. Purington and the late Mary F. (Libby) Purington. She was raised in Scarborough and graduated from Scarborough High School. Ginny was a homemaker and devoted wife and mother. She enjoyed nature, gardening, hiking the islands of Casco Bay, but most of all she enjoyed spending time studying God’s Word and ever-increasing her knowledge and desire to be more like Christ. One of her most cherished Bible verses was Matthew 5:8 which proclaims “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” and Ginny was the essence of that verse. Ginny was a loving, patient, kind, and compassionate, gentle soul. Although she faced many trials in her life, her faith and the support of her husband Alan and her son Jared sustained and comforted her through her challenges. Her steadfast faith in God was her anchor and her legacy.

She is survived by her beloved husband Alan P. Lewis, of Yarmouth; her only son, Jared P. Lewis, 28, of Yarmouth; her father, Arthur B. Purington, of Scarborough; two brothers, Wayne Purington of Windham and James Purington of Scarborough; and two sisters, Donna Purington of Jupiter, Florida, and Kathy Howell of Portland, Maine. Her mother, Mary F. Purington, passed away in 2010. Another brother, Arthur Purington Jr., predeceased her in his childhood years. She is also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Arrangements are under the care of Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services, 981 Forest Ave.,Portland, ME. Please visit www.advantageportland.com to sign Ginny’s guestbook.

A Church Service of celebrating the life of Ginny Lewis will be held at First Baptist Church of Yarmouth, 346 Main Street, Yarmouth, Maine at 1:00 pm, on Friday, May 3, 2013.

Burial to follow at Riverside Cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine.

YARMOUTH, ME – Ruth A. Ladd, 87, died peacefully on Sunday, April 28, 2013 after a 15 year battle with Alzheimer’s.

She was born in Portland, ME to Harvey Linwood Thurlow and Martha (Plummer) Thurlow on December 23, 1925. Ruth graduated from Deering High School as a member of the National Honor Society in 1943. Upon graduation, she worked for Portland Community Chest – a.k.a. United Way.

In 1946, she married her high school sweetheart, William E. Ladd. With great fervor and joy, she devoted her life to supporting her husband, children and grandchildren. She never missed a music or sporting event in which they participated. Ruth was loved by all who knew her – her sweet, gentle soul and beautiful smile remained throughout her life – not even to be tempered by her disease. She was admired for her exceptional kindness, humor, integrity, fairness and sportsmanship. She enjoyed playing tennis, skating, bowling and the beach. She loved playing board games, Bridge, crosswords and jumbles. She prided herself on her perfect penmanship, spelling and grammar – and is most likely checking this obituary for errors! Whether it was paddling her first kayak at age 68, or accepting a ride with her granddaughter on a jet ski at age 75, Ruth was a pure delight to know.

Music embodied her life – a beautiful pianist, she also played the harmonica, ukulele and sang perfect harmony on many long car rides. And what a cook! She was known for her apple pies, cream puffs and everything else!

For 14 years, she served as an administrative assistant in the Legal Department at Union Mutual and acted as a Deaconess at State Street Church in Portland.

Ruth was predeceased by her husband, Bill in 1976, her mother and father and her siblings- Harry and Arnold Thurlow, Gladys DeSimon and Rena Lamson.

Ruth is survived by her daughter Deborah L. Argereow and her husband Paul of North Yarmouth, sons William M. Ladd of Hollis, NH, Michael G. Ladd and his wife Mary of Knoxville, TN, Peter L. Ladd and his wife Eve of New Gloucester, her beloved grandchildren, David, Susan, Andrew, Fletcher, Aimee, Jennifer, Christopher and Lindsey, as well as eight great-grandchildren. Survivors also include her sister, Arline Densmore of California, sister-in-law Gwen Ladd of South Portland, daughter-in-law, Rosemary Duggan of Jaffrey, NH and many nieces and nephews.

Our family would like to thank the incredible, loving caregivers and staff on “Eagle Lake” at Brentwood Rehab and Nursing Center in Yarmouth for the last 7 ½ years; and Beacon Hospice for their 1 ½ years of kindness and support to Ruth and her family.

A graveside service and celebration of Ruth’s life will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at2 p.m. at Evergreen Cemetery, 672 Stevens Ave. Portland. For those attending please meet at the cemetery office by 1:45 p.m.

Arrangements are under the care of Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services, 981 Forest Ave. Portland. Please visit www.advantageportland.com to sign Ruth’s guestbook.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Alzheimer’s Association-Maine Chapter, 383 US Route One, Suite 2C, Scarborough, ME 04074.

South Portland, ME. – Larry F. Rancourt, 68, of South Portland, died peacefully at Gosnell Memorial Hospice House on Thursday, April 25 after a short illness, surrounded by his loving family.

Larry was born in Auburn, ME on May 26, 1944 a son of Roland H. & Evelyn M. (LeBlanc) Rancourt Sr. He grew up in Auburn and attended local area schools before graduating from Willimantic Technical Trade School.

Shortly after obtaining his license he went into business for himself doing electrical contracting and created Androscoggin Electric. Larry went on to own and operate several businesses in the Auburn area including Walco Insulation, R & R Associates Real Estate and a Gulf station, which also sold used cars. He also bought a partial section of the Marcell Paper Mill and also was the owner of several properties in Mechanic Falls and Auburn. Larry enjoyed his work, but also enjoyed the outdoors in the form of fishing and hunting.

Larry is survived by his long time companion, Laura Dunham, his son Eugene Rancourt of Windham, and his five grandchildren. He also leaves a sister Venise Simond and her husband Raymond of Monmouth, a brother, Roland H. Rancourt Jr. and his wife Louise of Auburn, as well as several nieces and nephews. He was also the father of the late Kevin Rancourt, who died in 1979.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a service on Friday, May 3 at 2:00 P.M. at St. Peters Cemetery Chapel, 217 Switzerland Road, Lewiston.

Arrangements are under the care of Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services, 981 Forest Ave.,

Portland, ME. Please visit www.advantageportland.com to sign Larry’s guestbook.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Larry’s memory can be made to Gosnell Memorial Hospice House,

11 Hunnewell Road, Scarborough, ME 04074

Auburn, ME – Wayne B. Parker, 42, of Lewiston and formerly of New Gloucester died on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at the Auburn Hospice House after a brief illness.

 

He was born in Lewiston, ME on April 11, 1971 a son of the late Ronald A. Parker Sr. & Shirley Mae (Rideout) Parker Labonte and her husband the late Richard Labonte. He grew up in New Gloucester, attending local area schools.

 

During the 1990’s he worked for Eastland Shoe in Freeport and spent the past four years working for Helping Hands as a Home Health Aide, providing help for his parents and Step Father.

 

He enjoyed Racecars; he drove a mini stock car in Oxford for a time after which he simply became a huge fan. He also enjoyed playing Bingo, fishing, camping and playing cards, Rook was his game. Above all he enjoyed family; he would look forward to any and all family gatherings.

 

He is survived by his two brothers Ronald A. Parker, Jr. and his wife Stephanie and Tony Parker both of New Gloucester, his sister Dorothy Parker and her fiancée Frank Bennett, Jr. of Auburn as well as two nieces Melinda and Melissa, three nephews Ronald, Michael and Andrew, two great nieces Kaili and Chloe and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

 

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service on Monday, April 29, 2013 at 3 p.m. at the Chapman Gathering Room at Gracelawn Memorial Park, 980 Turner Street, Auburn. Burial will follow in Gracelawn Memorial Park.

 

Arrangements are under the care of Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services, 981 Forest Ave. Portland, ME. Please visit www.advantageportland.com to sign Wayne’s guestbook.

 

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory can be made to:

 

Auburn Hospice House

236 Stetson Road

Auburn, ME 04210

Portland, ME – Larry Joe Gougeon, 76, of Portland died at Gosnell Memorial Hospice in Scarborough on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, after a lengthy illness.  He tried to exit unexpectedly, but was fortunate enough to have an assist from one of his daughters when he became stuck.  He grasped her hand and arm, and was able to tell her which way to pull to help him get to the other side.  

He was born on New Years Eve in 1936, and was the son of Phillip Goushaw and Esther (Ollar) Goushaw, both deceased.  He is survived by his brothers, Jim Goushaw, Mike Goushaw, Dave Goushaw, and Thom Goushaw, a wonderful sister, Diane Capretta, and was the brother of the late Ted Goushaw, whose mischief is still at large. He also leaves behind three daughters, Lynn Gougeon, Vickie Goushaw, and Lauren Gougeon Diedrich, and was the father of the late Matthew Gougeon, brother to Lauren, who left unexpectedly and way too soon.  He was Grandpa and Poppy Motorcycle to five grandchildren, Ian, Jordan, Gabriel, Evan, and Aubrey, and Uncle Larry to many, many nieces and nephews.  He was also survived by scores of exes, several of whom he married, all of whom are still very much alive (with the exception of Sylvia Plath, and we’re still not sure, along with several of his other tales, of its absolute veracity).  But still, he was astonished to find them all inexplicably waiting for him – Gail, Elaine, Cherie, and Ann Marie most notably among them – when he stepped into the light on the other side of the tunnel.  His eyes opened wide, he smiled, looking perplexed, and exclaimed, “All my exes are here!”

He grew up in and around Detroit until his family moved to Burt, where they ran a general store (his favorite job was stocking the beer cooler).  He graduated with honors from Saginaw High School, then began his career as an electronics engineer in the United States Air Force.  This was his day job.  By night, he hung out on the outskirts of Flint and Saginaw, Michigan with bikers, rebels like Michael Moore, and fellow outlaw poets.  He managed to get payed in the 60’s and 70’s for falling out of airplanes, doing exhibition jumps at rock concerts and drag races.  But he wished to be know simply as “The Poet,” denizen of the streets of Flint, and then Marquette, Michigan, Saint Augustine, Florida, Portland, Maine, haunter of coffee houses and poetry slams, unquenchable seeker of the open mike.  He self-published a beautifully bound book of poetry, “Food for Children,” as well as several simple chapbooks.  He passed snippets of poetry and poems to literally hundreds, if not thousands, of people.  And in Portland, he was known as that “crazy, fantastic man [with whom you could] have random conversations with on park benches.”  He was loved and feared and occasionally reviled, but mostly loved.  He never failed to make an impression. 

In his spirit, we will gather together in the near future to swap “Larry” stories  and celebrate his life (there will be plenty of advanced notice, with event planning and promotion, and time to prepare).  In the meantime, those who are active on Facebook will be notified of an online event which will enable friends and family to publish stories there.  Cremation services for Larry have been provided by Advantage Funeral and Cremation Services of Portland.  We were not able to carry out his first and second wishes, because they were, quite frankly, outside the parameters of the law.  We will always be happy that Dylan Verner took that lovely photo.

Scarborough, ME – Paul E. Coates, 54, of Scarborough and formerly of Alameda, CA died unexpectedly at his home on Friday, April 12, 2013.

He was born in Norfolk, VA on March 9, 1959 a son of the late Arnold F. Coates and Mary Jane (Lee) Coates of Old Orchard Beach. He grew up in Alameda, CA attending local area schools and graduating from Alameda High School. Shortly after graduating Paul joined the US Navy and served two tours totaling six years. He was based on the USS Prairie and the USS Trenton.

Paul spent most of his working life as a journeyman sheet metal worker and machinist. He moved to Maine about ten years ago and was a well-liked employee at Wal-Mart Tire & Lube in Scarborough for the past few years.

He enjoyed motorcycles and owned a few in his time, a Kawasaki 650 as well as a Yamaha 500. He was also a gentle and quiet soul who loved animals and working with his hands. He enjoyed creating, whether it was in his garden, creating a beautiful landscape or preparing his delicious meals, especially his fried chicken.

Besides his mother he is survived by his daughter Stephanie Richardson of Vickson, CA and his grandchild Timmyanni. He also leaves behind five siblings Rob Coates of Grants Pass, OR, Laura Coates, Cheryl Cutter and her husband William and William A. Boesch all of Scarborough and Richard Coates of Old Orchard Beach as well as several nieces and nephews. He was also the brother of the late Yvonne, Steven and Patricia Lee Coates.

To honor Paul’s quiet nature there will be no services.

Portland, ME – Su Cha (Kim) Meuse, 77, of Portland, died unexpectedly on March 31, 2013 at Maine Medical Center.  She was the wife of the late Richard L. Meuse, who died on June 4, 2003.

 She was born in Seoul, Korea on Jan 14, 1936 a daughter of the late Pal Kum Kim & Tok Son Ohoe.         

 Su Cha became a US citizen in 1980 and retired from the TJX Company.  She enjoyed Latin music and dancing as well as traveling.  She traveled extensively throughout her married life and made numerous friendships during those travels.

 She is survived by an extended family in the US, Japan and Korea, which include in-laws, nieces and nephews among others.  She held none more dearly than her more recent contingency of local Japanese friends.  She was also a sister of the late Yang Sam Kim.

 Relatives and friends are invited to attend a memorial service on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 10 a.m. at the First Congregational Church, 141 North Street, Kennebunkport.  Interment will immediately follow in the Arudel Cemetery, Kennebunkport.  A reception will follow.

 Arrangements are under the care of Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services, 981 Forest Ave, Portland.  Please visit www.advantageportland.com to sign Su Cha’s guestbook.