FLORENCE BEACH WALLACE

BANGOR – Florence Beach Wallace, 88, died Oct. 29, 2005, peacefully with her family at her side after a long illness, at a local healthcare facility. She was born Aug. 7, 1917, in Grand Lake Stream, to George and Kathleen Bagley. Her mother and baby sister died in the influenza pandemic of 1918. She and her remaining four brothers and two sisters were adopted or boarded with relatives and other families. Her father’s second cousin, Ralph Beach and his wife, Hope Wheaton Beach of Grand Lake Stream adopted Florence. She didn’t meet some of her siblings again until late in her adult life due to their relocation across the country. She worked as a bookkeeper and property manager for several companies and individuals in Massachusetts and Maine and truly enjoyed sharing her love of the beauty of Maine with people from away. She was an energetic and adventurous traveler, accompanying her son to England, Scotland and Spain in the early 70’s and then to Alaska to visit her other son in 2002. She went on a hunting trip to Newfoundland with her husband, Donald, to hunt moose, a trip her father, Ralph had taken in the early 1900’s. She was an avid reader all her life. She loved to tell stories to friends and family about growing up in Grand Lake Stream and her adventures hunting and fishing with her “Dad”. She was a loyal, brave and fun-loving mother to her five children. In addition to her full-time job and duties as a single mom, she found the time to be Mother Advisor to Rainbow Girls and chief supporter and chauffeur to her son’s one act play contests and the Demolay Boys. She was also a professional seamstress. She loved and cared for many dogs and cats throughout her life. Right to the last year of her life, feeding treats to visiting pets brightened her spirits. She kept her downeast sense of humor right to the end of her life. She was predeceased by her first husband, Oscar Draper of Attleboro, Mass., and was the wife of the late Donald Wallace from Woodland. She is survived by two sons, Ralph Draper and his wife, Barbara of Nottingham, N.H. and Charles Draper and is wife, Colleen, of Anchorage, Alaska; three daughters, Hope Richards and her husband, Will, of Winterport, Carol Rosenberg and her husband, Peter, of Brewer, and Cynthia Sarjeant and her husband, Al, of Bangor; 20 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren; one brother-in-law, Jim Wallace and his wife, Jackie, of Woodland; four sisters-in-law, Rita Wallace of Woodland, Bea Bagley of Grand Lake Stream, Romelda Wallace of Princeton and Gertrude Lund of Milltown; an aunt, Ruth Weaton of Brewer; many cousins, nieces, nephews and a lifelong friend, Ina Annon of Groton, Conn. In honor of her request, there will be no funeral service. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Woodie Wheaton Land Trust Fund, in care of Downeast Lakes Land Trust, P.O. Box 75, Grand Lake Stream, ME 04637, or the Grand Lake Stream Historical Society, P.O. Box 52, Grand Lake Stream, ME 04637.