MAPLETON and TEXAS – Lucy A. (Fitzgerald) Dickinson, died Feb. 12, 2006, in Joshua, Texas, at the home of her loving daughter and son-in-law. She was born June 5, 1918, in Fort Kent, the 16th child of George and Clara (Bossie) Fitzgerald. She was baptized Marie Lucienne. As a child Lucy loved accompanying her parents into Maine lumber camps where they were cooks. This love of the outdoors, especially camping, stayed with her throughout her life. As a teen, she became close to her nieces and nephews while helping her older sisters in their homes in the Perham area. She married Cecil Dickinson in 1934, in Wade, when she was 16 and he was 19 and together they raised four children. She worked alongside her husband on their Wade potato farm, often picking potatoes. She and the children also picked wild berries and vegetables from their garden of which she canned hundreds of jars of delicious food. She was a loving mother and a meticulous homemaker and her home and children reflected that. She also found time to help neighbors with their spring-cleaning, painting and wallpapering. Lucy was energetic and fun loving. Her fondest memories were of playing with her children, especially sliding on crisp winter days. She worked at City and Modern cleaners and Converse in Presque Isle for a number of years. Her life was shattered when Cecil died suddenly in 1973. She lived with her daughter in Mapleton, while trying to put her life back together and through mutual friends she met Larry Rogers. They were married in Florida in 1976. She and Larry enjoyed traveling and when he died a few months later, Lucy again found herself alone. While visiting her son in Ohio, she met and later married Arthur Burris. They lived and worked in Ohio until they retired to Florida, where she lived until his death in 2000. Her belief in God also sustained her through the deaths of her two sons. In recent years, she was confined to a wheelchair with painful arthritis but still found pleasure in helping her daughter around the home. She enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, the company of her cats, and especially getting mail from family. Her caring, upbeat letters will be dearly missed by those far away relatives. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Carmeline Dickinson of Mapleton; and children, Mitchel and wife, Cyndi, of North Carolina, Kenneth and wife, Kerry, of Presque Isle, David and wife, Myscha, of Arizona; one son, Linwood and his wife, Lorraine, of Presque Isle and their children, Philip and wife, Stormy, of Michigan, Larry and wife, Pam, of Florida, Mary Ann and husband, Jeff Barkley, of Alaska, Donald and wife, Ann, of New York, Susan and her husband, John Gidlof, of Alaska, Willie and his wife, Emily, of Presque Isle; one daughter, Muriel “Mikki” Archer and her husband, Alan and their son, James and his wife, Tiffaney, of Joshua, Texas; 22 great-grandchildren, nine great-great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. Lucy was predeceased by husbands, Cecil Dickinson, the father of her children in 1973, Larry Rogers in 1976 and Arthur Burris in 2000; two sons, Peter L. in 1993 and Carroll K. in 2002; seven sisters, Delia, Emily and Anna Fitzgerald, Mandy Levesque, Leona Spinney, Velma Harris and Clair Bondeson; eight brothers, Isaac, Edward, Willie, Henry, Rene, Sam, Leo and Norman Fitzgerald. Lucy will be greatly missed by all her family. She leaves a great emptiness in the hearts of her daughter and son-in-law, with whom she had made her home for the past six years and also her grandson, his wife and great grandchildren who lived nearby. A graveside service will take place in the spring at Washburn Riverside cemetery.
LUCY A. (FITZGERALD) DICKENSON
