BANGOR and CORNISH Mabel (Houser) McDade passed away April 21, 2008, at a Bangor area health facility. She was born Jan. 27, 1912, in Logan County, Ark., the daughter of Mack C. Houser and Pearl Lee Horn Houser. Mabel grew up in North Florida on her father’s dairy farm. She graduated from Florida State College for Women, now Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., in 1933. Subsequently, while teaching at the university school, she earned a master’s degree in English. She met her future husband, Edward McDade, while he was training amphibious troops at Apalachicola for wartime deployment to the South Pacific. After the war they married and moved to his hometown, Westbrook. They lived for a short time in South Portland while she taught English at Jack Junior High School, Portland. In 1949 the couple bought a farm in Cornish, where Mabel began teaching at Porter High School. During her many years at Porter she taught English and Latin, advised yearbook and student newspaper production and directed the school library. After her career at Porter she taught English at Gorham High School before retiring from teaching in 1971. After retiring from teaching, Mabel took a special interest in the development and growth of Bonney Memorial Library, Cornish. She served on the Southern Maine Library District Executive Board. Mabel was active in the community life of Cornish. Her interests ranged from helping political candidates to serving as a Cub Scout leader. She belonged to Cornish United Church of Christ and participated in its’ community activities. She and Edward were long time members of the Long Pond Association. After her husband’s death in 1984, Mabel continued living in Cornish until health concerns by 2001 prompted a move to her last home at Sunbury Village, Bangor. Throughout her long life Mabel was passionate about flowers and plants. She grew wonderful flowers and would tell you their Latin names and details of their physiology if asked. Among her many interests, she was especially passionate about literature, poetry and correspondence with many distant friends. Although in recent years diminished vision reduced her ability to correspond, she continued to enjoy a stream of audio books, and she retained the ability to quote long passages from Shakespeare and from other poets. Many of her students had kept in touch with Mabel over the years. They often credit her with inspiring a life-changing interest in literature and higher learning. Wherever she had lived she found many friends and was known as a friend to all. She is survived by a sister, Maxine Lichtenwalter of Punta Gorda, Fla.; a son, Michael and his wife, Barbara, of Bangor; two grandchildren, Kate McDade of Portland and John McDade of Bar Harbor; and one great-grandchild, Nora. Friends may call 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Neal and York Funeral Home, 12 High St., Porter. Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Thursday at Neal and York. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions in her name either to Bonney Memorial Library, P.O. Box 857, Cornish, ME 04020 or Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401.