BROOKSVILLE – Florence “Polly” (Perry) Eaton died Jan. 19, 2005, at home in Brooksville, after a long illness. She was born Nov. 16, 1920, in Hartford, Conn., and grew up by the Bangor Theological Seminary, the daughter of Alfred Morris Perry (professor of Greek and New Testament history) and Florence (Hodges) Perry. Polly graduated from Bangor High School in 1938 and from Smith College, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, in 1942. She worked briefly at the Hampshire Bookshop in Northampton, Mass. On Aug. 28, 1943, she married B.H.S. classmate Franklin W. Eaton, shortly before he was shipped to the South Pacific. They had known each other since starting kindergarten together in 1924, and had spent summers (with their younger brothers in tow) racing each other around Penobscot Bay in sailboats. Polly spent the rest of World War II in Bangor, working in the public library reference department. After the war, she worked as a housewife, raising four baby boomers, and was active in the Quipus Club, the P. E. O. Sisterhood, and the All Souls Congregational Church. She was not fond of housework, but baked excellent bread and took pride in the professional quality of her sewing and knitting: “When you have to do dull work,” she advised a daughter, “make a game out of it and see how fast you can get it over with.” She instilled in her children a love of books, reading aloud and reciting poetry to them. Once they were launched in school, she began tutoring other children, and became a staunch advocate for those with dyslexia. She earned her M. Ed. from the University of Maine in 1974, and taught for several years in the resource room of what was then Garland Street Junior High School. Her lifelong love of literature led her to write stories for children and young adults, and she was an avid birdwatcher and sailor with her husband. She is survived by her husband, Franklin W. Eaton, of Brooksville; their children, Gale Eaton of Wakefield, R.I., Emily Eaton Moore and Charles Moore of Portland, Jonathan F. and Mariellen L. Eaton of Thomaston, and Deborah Eaton of Casco; four grandchildren, Alberta Athearn of Casco, Abigail Woodman of Portland, and Matthew and Caitrin Eaton of Thomaston; two brothers, Alfred M. Perry Jr., of Knoxville, Tenn. and Charles H. Perry of Ormond Beach, Fla.; and two sisters, Ann P. Morse of Hampden and Barbara P. Martin of Brooksville. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, at First Congregational Church of Blue Hill. Memorial contributions may be sent to the charity of the donor’s choice. A service of Brookings-Smith, Bangor.
FLORENCE (PERRY) EATON
