HAMPDEN – Jeannette Gray (Stokes) Thulin, 88, died peacefully Nov. 27, 2005, at a Bangor hospital following a stroke. She was born Nov. 7, 1917, in Ridgewood, N.J., the daughter of Elizabeth Van Arsdale and William Thomas Stokes. Jeannette graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1935 and Barnard College, Columbia University with a bachelor of arts in music in 1939. She was married to Clarence Thulin April 11, 1942. Jeannette raised her family in Belmont, Mass. later returning to work as secretary to the dean of Harvard Law School. She enjoyed this position for 10 years. For more than 40 years she did volunteer Braille transcriptions for blind schoolchildren, while in Maine for the Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ESBVI). Clarence and Jeannette retired to Maine in 1970, engaging in a rural life of gardening, building restoration and crafts in Exeter. Later, moving to Hampden, Jeannette became an active and devoted member of the Hampden Congregational Church. She was also active in the soup kitchen of the Salvation Army and the Hampden Food Cupboard. She was a recipient of the Those Who Care Award of Channel 2, WLBZ, in 2002. Right up to the time of her death, she was actively engaged in church events and dinners and a Braille transcription of a high school student’s handbook. She was predeceased by her husband, Clarence; and her brother, Robert V. Stokes of Tulsa, Okla. Jeannette is survived by two sons, Eric S. Thulin of Nortondale, N.B., Canada and Bruce E. Thulin of Ellsworth; three grandchildren, Jesse C.B. Thulin of Bangor, Samuel J.B. Thulin of Fredericton, N.B., Canada and Holly Autumn Thulin of Ellsworth. A memorial service will be held 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Hampden Congregational Church. In lieu of flowers, those who wish may make donations to the Hampden Food Cupboard.
JEANNETTE GRAY (STOKES) THULIN
