DOVER-FOXCROFT – Beatrice Grant Gellerson, 96, wife of the late Arnold T. Gellerson and founder of the Little Red School House for the Retarded, died peacefully Aug. 24, 2006, at her home on Pine Street. She was born Jan. 24, 1910, in Dexter, the daughter of Almont Grant and Mildred (Stone) Grant. Her early years were spent in West Garland, where she attended the West Garland school. Later she attended schools in Guilford and graduated from Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass. She taught school at the one-room school in Sebec Station and in Sangerville before her marriage to Arnold T. Gellerson. A pioneer in the education of retarded children and adults, she was given the Maine American Legion Humanitarian Award in l968 at the 50th anniversary Legion Convention in Bath. Her work with retarded children and adults began with the Dale Evans Room and grew to become the Little Red School House on South Street, serving students with special needs from area towns for more than 40 years. She served as its first executive director and later as a member of the board of directors. With a special talent for making children’s stories come alive, many adults today remember Mrs. Gellerson’s “story hour” at the Thompson Free Library and her visits to public school classrooms to tell stories. An avid reader, she was a member of the Thompson Free Library Association for 53 years. She was a long-time member of the Miosac Club, a member of the Women’s Fellowship of the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church and a member of the church. Her long association with the church included singing in the choir and teaching Sunday school. She was an associate member of The Omicron Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society. Fly fishing at West Branch Pond Camps with her husband and family was one of her favorite pastimes. Bea was known for her loving kindness to her family and to everyone she knew. She will be deeply missed by everyone whose lives she touched. She was predeceased by her husband, Arnold T. Gellerson; her father, Almont Grant; her mother, Mildred Grant Perin; her stepfather, Paul J. Perin; and by her dearly loved stepchildren, Sally Gellerson Bartram and Rex Gellerson; and a grandson, Greg Glover. She is survived by her daughter, Mary Gellerson Adams and son-in-law, Thatcher Adams, of Garland; and grandchildren, Emily Cameron and family of Glenburn, Thatcher M. Adams Jr. and family of Concord, Mass., Gilman Glover and family of Dover-Foxcroft, Susan Gellerson and family of Westbrook; and by a special friend and neighbor, Elizabeth Harvey of Dover-Foxcroft. The family acknowledges with thanks the loving devotion and attention given to Bea by her long time caregiver friends, Kathy Dow and Mary Hall, as well as the outstanding service of newer members of Bea’s “family” of caregivers, Kathy Walsh, Regina Foster and Denise Jackson. Special thanks also to Dr. Leslie Fernow and nurse, Peggy Seneca, for their kindness and skilled care, as well as the nurses in the hospice program. Friends may call 1-2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, where funeral services will be conducted 2 p.m. by the Rev. Heather Kurtz. Those who wish may make memorial contributions to the Little Red School House Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, 245 Main St., Ellsworth, ME 04605 or the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church, P.O. Box 328, Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426. Arrangements are in the care of the Lary Funeral Home, Dover-Foxcroft.
BEATRICE GRANT GELLERSON
