AUGUSTA – Constance Page Hale Spellman died early Sunday morning, Sept. 24, 2006, surrounded by her loving family. Connie was born Nov. 25, 1919, at home in Rockaway, N.J. In the past week, she celebrated her 64th wedding anniversary, went for a boat ride on Lake Cobbosseecontee, played bridge with friends at the Cohen Center, Augusta, and attended her “Mini-Think-Tank” discussion group. She attended the Wilson School and The Beard Preparatory School, Morristown, N.J. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1941 and spent two summers at the University of New Hampshire Marine Laboratory at the Isles of Shoals, where she met her future husband, Frank Spellman. They were married in 1942 and lived in New Haven, Conn., where Connie worked in a research lab and husband, Frank, completed his last year at the Yale Medical School. They lived in Portland, where he interned at Maine Medical Hospital and she worked as a laboratory technician. During the World War II, they lived in Macon, Ga., Seattle and Carmel, Calif. They returned to Maine in 1949, settling in Augusta, as Frank was assigned to the Togus Veterans’ Administration Hospital, working as an internist and ultimately as assistant chief of the medical service. Together they raised a family and were very involved in the community. As a child, Connie first came to Maine in the 1920s with her family, tenting out at Libby’s Campground, York Harbor. Her first trip to the newly created Baxter State Park was in the early 1930s, where she enjoyed the splendor of Chimney Pond and Mount Katahdin. Connie worked at Forum A at the University of Maine – Augusta, as program chair for five years, bringing world-famous artists and performers to the stages at the University of Maine – Augusta and Cony High School. She took numerous courses in music, art and drama at the University of Maine – Augusta, recently attending senior college courses, concerts and other University of Maine – Augusta activities. She served as president of the Augusta Nature Club and was active with the Abnaki Ski and Outing Club and the Cobbosseecontee Yacht Club for more than 40 years. She was a longtime member of the Maine Audubon Society, Appalachian Mountain Club and Augusta Country Club. Connie was an enthusiastic golfer, tennis player and loyal Red Sox fan. Nature, travel and art, were her passions. She traveled extensively with Maine Audubon, her husband and family; with trips to major museum and cultural centers in the United States, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, England, Scotland, Hong Kong and Thailand. She participated in some of the original Audubon Christmas Bird Counts. Connie served for 17 years as a consumer mediator at the State of Maine Department of the Attorney General, retiring at age 81. Family hiking was a favorite activity, with climbs in Maine and New Hampshire. In her days at the University of New Hampshire, she made the winter walk up Mount Washington to ski Tuckerman’s Ravine. She summered at Heron Cove on Lake Cobbosseecontee since the 1960s, with weeks spent hiking out of the AMC Cold River Camp, North Chatham, N.H. She was predeceased by Frank; brothers, Charles, Robert and Alfred; and sister, Dorothea. She is survived by her brother, Boyden of Raleigh, N.C.; and sister, Anne of Mansfield, Conn., and Lamoine. Her children are daughters, Roberta and husband, Robert Pettipaw, of Waban, Mass., and Kathy; sons, Richard and wife, Janis, of Kennesaw, Ga., and David and wife, Paula, of Cumberland Foreside and Old Orchard Beach. Her loving grandchildren are Ashley, Paige, Francesca and Natasha. Visiting hours are 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, at Knowlton and Hewins Funeral Home, 1 Church St., Augusta, where a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday. She will be buried next to her husband at the Maine Veterans? Memorial Cemetery. Please, no flowers, instead, kindly make donations in Connie?s name to Maine Audubon Society, 20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105. www.khrfuneralhome.com
CONSTANCE PAGE HALE SPELLMAN
