YARMOUTH – Emily (Mellish) Hanson McLean, 88, daughter of George Henry and Josie Etta (Levensalor) Mellish of Dover-Foxcroft, died April 10, 2006, in Yarmouth, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born July 14, 1917, in Dover-Foxcroft. She attended Dover-Foxcroft schools and graduated from Foxcroft Academy in 1935. She attended nursing school in Presque Isle and became a nurse. Emily was very active in school in Dover-Foxcroft. She worked with the Dana Small Dance Company doing sets and costumes as well as acting and dancing. She married Isaac George “Nick” Hanson (1902-1964), son of John and Jennie (Forbes) Hanson of Greenville. Emily and Nick were married Jan. 14, 1936, and lived in Greenville until Nick’s death. While living in Greenville, Emily was an extremely active individual and continued to be active in dance and drama. She was a volunteer librarian. She loved entertaining and was very creative in this area both at home and at her cottage on Moosehead Lake. She was president of the Missionary Society of the Greenville Congregational Church. After Nick’s death she went to Israel for the summer of 1965, where she lived and worked on a kibbutz. During the same summer she was also at the youth fellowship work camp tour in the mountains of Greece. The following fall she worked at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass. She met and married Frank McLean (1888-1983) and they lived in Harwich, Mass. While on the Cape she showed her creativity in gardening. She was an avid reader and took a number of college courses during this period. She worked in the First Congregational Church of Harwich and was active in the Monday Night Club. Two years after Frank’s death, she moved to Yarmouth. Until her illness she wintered in Florida and at one point took a trip on the Amazon River. Emily was a member of the Cumberland Garden Club, helped out at Camp Tall Pines, and attended the First Parish Congregational Church in Yarmouth. In addition to her husbands, she was predeceased by two sisters, Norma Waugh of Mt. Kisco, N.Y., and Margaret Small of Dexter. She is survived by a sister, Erma Crosby of Exeter, N.H.; a son, Nicholas Hanson of Pownal, Vt.; a daughter, Bonnie Lee (Hanson) Bruni Nelson of Cumberland Foreside; a grandson, Michael and his wife, Julie Bruni, and their two sons, Antonio and Dominic Bruni, all of Limington; a grandson, Todd Hanson of Greenville; several nieces and nephews. Special thanks go to Emily’s outstanding caregivers over the years. Emily’s family extends their deep appreciation to the staff at Brentwood Nursing Home and to Beacon Hospice for their loving and compassionate care. Memorial services will be conducted 1 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at the Lary Funeral Home, Dover-Foxcroft with Pastor David Mumford officiating. Burial will be later in the spring in the family lot in Greenville Cemetery. Those who wish may make memorial contributions to either Maine Alzheimer’s Disease Assoc., 163 Lancaster St., Suite 160B, Portland, ME 04101, or to the Brentwood Nursing Home Activity Fund, 370 Portland St., Yarmouth, ME 04096, or to the charity of one’s choice.
EMILY (MELLISH) HANSON MCLEAN
