LITTLETON, BREWER and REGINA, Saskatchewan – Bernice E. Manuel, 82, died Monday, April 5, 2004, in Bangor. She was the heart of a family that stretches from Maine to British Columbia. Born April 20, 1921, in Regina, the Capitol City of the Province of Saskatchewan, Bernice was the daughter of a distinguished Canadian family. Her parents, Thomas and Ruth McCusker, came from families who emigrated from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, and the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Tom and Ruth raised their seven children on their 2000-acre wheat farm on the plains of western Canada. Bernice’s life on the farm was filled with hard work, love and a joy for life. She was taught that civility, kindness and a sense of humor are important, lessons she carried throughout life. Her family farm on the prairies was infused with warmth and laughter, and she loved her parents and her siblings dearly. In her early 20’s, Bernice moved to Washington, D.C. with several of her young girlfriends to find jobs in the war economy. She was a great beauty, which earned her the nickname “Face.” At her workplace, she met an ambitious man from Maine, and although courted by many Canadian “fly boys” (the nickname given to Canadian Air Force pilots), it was this man who won her heart. They married and after the war moved to Maine, bought a small farm in Littleton, and started their family. Charlotte came first, then Virginia, William, Barbara and James. Bernice grew up in the Depression and like so many of her generation, knew how to make much with little. She raised and preserved vegetables from her garden, sewed much of the children’s clothes, and recycled nearly everything before recycling was in vogue. She was a wonderful cook and seamstress, and every Easter she sewed each of her girls a new dress and coat. She used the Singer sewing machine her parents bought for her on a trip they made to Maine in the 1940’s until her death. Bernice was a great liberal and loved politics. She was an active Democrat in Maine and volunteered in virtually every presidential campaign since President Kennedy and every Maine campaign since Ed Muskie, including Governor Joseph Brennan’s. She was renowned for her feisty letters to the Bangor Daily News on all subjects politic, and out of a deep respect for their culture, loved using Na-tive American pseudonyms to sign her letters. Bernice was a voracious reader and an ardent gardener, and loved to paint and photograph nature. She drew her children like a magnet whenever she sat down to play the piano. Bernice’s family was the center of her life. She loved her children and grandchildren enormously, and would go to great lengths to ensure they were well and happy. She was renowned for her extraordinary pies, made the old-fashioned way with lard piecrusts, and her skill at Scrabble. Whenever there were leftovers on the farm in Littleton, she would put the scraps out for the crows – a bird that she greatly admired for its audacity and intelligence. Bernice will always be loved and remembered by her children, Charlotte Maloney of Portland, Virginia Manuel of Littleton, Barbara Beers of Dixmont, and James Manuel of Clearwater, Fla. She was adored by her grandsons, Nicholas and Thomas; and her son-in-law, Dennis, all of Dixmont; and her granddaughter, Carolyn Newman of Calgary, Alberta. She will be missed by her dear sisters and brother, Evelyn Downs of Victoria, British Columbia, and Marion Chase and Kevin McCusker of Regina, Saskatchewan. “Auntie Bernice” occupies a very special place in the hearts of all her nieces and nephews, including those of her sisters and brother who died before her, Louise Wilson, Bette Haynes and William McCusker. She delighted in watching her grandsons, Nick and Tommy grow up to be fine young men, and was very proud of their accomplishments and kind natures. She greatly enjoyed the company of her son James’ fi-anc‚e’s grandchildren, three little girls with intelligence and spunk. And she was blessed by her lovely granddaughter, Carolyn, whose grace and kindness mirror her own. She was very proud of her children’s accomplishments, especially her daughter Virginia’s work on “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, the McCusker Family homeland. She was predeceased by her husband of more than 50 years, Glenn, in 1999; and her beloved son, Billy, in 1974. Bernice was frugal and practical to the last and wanted the most modest of fu-nerals. Her ashes will be bur-ied at her husband’s and son’s sides in Hodgdon, and spread over the Fort Qu’Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan. A gathering to honor Bernice’s memory will be held 12 noon on April 24, 2004, in Littleton at the Meduxnekeag Club at Cary Lake followed by a reception. An Irish wake will be held in Saskatchewan in early sum-mer. If desired, gifts in her memory can be made to the Cary Memorial Library, 107 Main St., Houlton, ME 04730. We are bereft without her.
BERNICE MCCUSKER MANUEL
