PRESQUE ISLE – Margaret Elizabeth Drake, 94, passed away March 18, 2005, after a long illness at the Aroostook Medical Center, Mars Hill. Elizabeth was born August 10, 1910, at Island Falls, the daughter of Lena and Ernest Garrison She is survived by her sisters, Grace Hawksley of Mars Hill and Phyllis Lane, of Prescott, Ariz.; daughter, Eleanor Drake of Point Richmond, Calif.; son, Bert Drake of West River, Md.; and grandchildren, Lisa Shepperd of Camden, Christopher Shepperd of Cotati, Calif., Peter Drake of Annapolis, Md. and Michelle Drake of Austin, Texas. She was the oldest of five children. The family moved to Stokholm and occupied an apartment over Anderson’s store. She moved on her own to Presque Isle in 1924 to attend High School and work as a maid for her room and board. She attended Presque Isle High School until entering nurses training at age 17 and graduated four years later. She began a career as a registered nurse working at the Northern Maine Sanitorium and then spent most of her career of more than 40 years at Presque Isle General Hospital. She was so dedicated to nursing that she used her vacation time to work as the camp nurse at the Presque Isle Boys Camp at Long Lake and Camp Dewitt on Lake Winnipisaukee, N.H. Nursing was the center of her life. At The Aroostook Medical Center, she was affectionately called Mother Drake because she was present at the birth of several generations of babies and the births of the babies of many of these as well. In 1931, she married Harry A. Drake, they celebrated their 50th anniversary in September, 1981. Although her work anchored her life, she was proudest of the fact that she helped her two children to graduate from Presque Isle High School and from the Aroostook State Teachers College and the University of Maine in Orono. There will be a memorial service at a later date with interment in the family plot in Fairmont Cemetery, Presque Isle.
ELIZABETH DRAKE
