WINTER HARBOR – Martha May (Wakefield) Bickford, 98, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005, at her residence surrounded by her loving family. She was born June 25, 1906, in Birch Harbor, the daughter of Albert and Carrie (Alley) Wakefield. Her first employment was working at the Winter Harbor Inn and later at Simon and Mabel Bunker’s Boarding House at Tunk Pond in Sullivan. She was the Past Noble Grand of the Rebecca Lodge. In 1922 Martha married Reynold Bickford, and they were married for 65 years. She and her husband owned and operated the Bickford Sunoco Station in Winter Harbor for many years. In her early years they lived on Grindstone Neck and she helped with the caring of the draft and riding horses. In 2002 she was recognized as the oldest living daughter of a Civil War Veteran. She also received the Boston Post Cane in 1998 as the oldest living citizen of Winter Harbor, which had been previously held by her husband for many years. Martha is survived by two sons, R. Vernon Bickford and his wife, Laverne, and Ray Bickford and his wife, Nyla; four daughters, June Rolfe and her husband, Melvin, Betty Williams, Dolores Basher and her husband, Don, and Linda Whitney and her husband, Darroll; a sister, Goldie Place of Georgia, who is 101; two sisters-in-law, Cassie Farrell and Tina Bickford; 26 grandchildren; many great and great-great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She will also be missed by three special friends, Gail Backman, Tina Whitney, and Deo Gordon. She was predeceased by her husband; two sons, Ralph Bickford and his wife Margaret, and William Bickford, Sr.; a daughter Barbara and her husband Chester (Bud) Bickford; a son-in-law, Chandler F. Williams, Sr.; a grandson, Kevin Rolfe; and two great-great-grandsons, Jesse Riggs and Trevan Potter. The family would like to offer a special thank you to all of May’s caregivers. Friends are invited to visit with the family Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Bragdon-Kelley-Campbell Funeral Home, 215 Main St., Ellsworth, from 12:30-2 p.m. with funeral services commencing at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Clifford Norton officiating. Spring interment will be at Brookside Cemetery, Winter Harbor. Gifts in memory of May can be sent to the South Gouldsboro Lighthouse Assembly of God, P.O. Box 243, South Gouldsboro, ME, 04607. A memorial register and directions is available online at Legacy.com.
MARTHA MAY WAKEFIELD BICKFORD
