SARAH JANE WHITE SPRUCE

BANGOR – Sarah Jane White Spruce joined her parents, many siblings, in-laws and dear friends April 14, 2007. She was born Dec. 7, 1923, in Old Town, to Almon F. White and Harriet M. White. A lifelong student, she was the valedictorian of her high school class and a senior at the University of Maine, where she took classes for 16 years. Along with raising her family, she worked in the family business, Spruce’s General Store, Milford and was also employed at the Old Town city clerk’s office and at Cooperative Extension Services at the University of Maine. She was blessed with a curious mind and a gift for words; writing was her hobby and her passion. She was an accomplished Scrabble player and a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox. A gifted seamstress and knitter, known for her quilts, sweaters and mittens, she kept her family warm and loved. She was also blessed with a devoted husband for 63 years and with eight children, 21 grandchildren and 18 great-grand-children and their loved ones. Sarah Jane converted to Catholicism in 1944 and loved the church deeply all her life. The Eucharist was her strength and her beloved. Along with her husband, Raymond Spruce, she is survived by her daughter, Margaret Mary Morehouse and her husband, Mark and their children, Christopher and Cynthia Atwood and Cynthia’s three sons, Carolyn Thompson and Eric Thompson and their children, Maggie, Benjamin and Sam, Thomas and Tammy Atwood and daughter, Camden, Timothy and Dawn Atwood and their daughters, Kaitlyn, Aimee and Jolee; daughter, Anne Labree and her husband, Galen and their children, Daniel and his wife, Martha and their daughter, Rachel, and Dianne Berube and her husband, John and their four children, Sarah Anne, Noah, Orrin and Anthony and Galen’s daughter, Michelle Labree; daughter, Tabitha King and her husband, Stephen and their children; Naomi King and Dr. Thandeka, Joseph King and Leonora LaGrande and their three children, Ethan, Aiden and Ryan, and son, Owen King and Kelly Braffett; daughter, Catherine Graves and her children, Katrina and Kenny Sheehan and son, Alexander, Gabrielle Graves and Matthew Graves and daughters, Courtney and Megan; son, Christopher Spruce and Lorna White and his children, Sarah Elizabeth and Andrew; son, Thomas Spruce and his wife, Lori and their children, Sarah Foster, and Kaela, Samuel and Cody Spruce; daughter, Stephanie Leonard and her husband, James and their sons, Jonathan and Justin; and daughter, Marcella Spruce. She also leaves behind a beloved brother, Fred White and his wife, Dean and their family; beloved daughters-in-law, Ruth Osborne and Suzanne Spruce; sister-in-law, Jeanne Kendall and her husband, David and their family; brother-in-law, David Spruce and his sons; sister-in-law, Helga Cross and her husband, Dan; brother-in-law, Clayton Cook; special cousins, Frances Trefts, and John and Hope Theriault; foster son, Ronald Highbarger and his wife, Judy and their family; daughter of the heart Marion Harris and her daughter, Ariel; dear friends, Robert Dubay, Alice and Bill McGowan, and Charles and Ellen Stevens; many precious cousins, nieces and nephews. Sarah Jane was predeceased by a son-in-law, David Graves; her siblings, Ora, Benjamin, Matthew, Margaret, Ruth, Ann, Mary and Melvin; and her dearest friends, Shirley Stevens and Rachel Joan Dubay. Thank you to Dr. Michael Bruehl, Dr. Andrew Dixon, Dr. Sidney Block, St. Joseph hospital fifth floor staff and the staff of NIMS Associates, for the special care they gave our mother. Excavation By Sarah Jane White Spruce Bury me in orange. I want to lie there bright and gay Beneath my four, or slightly more, Feet of clay. When other men in other times Disinter my grave I would they’d find A twist or two of orange twine In my dank cave, And pick it up, a brilliant thread Against the whitened bones of one long dead. When someone picks my scrap of orange ravel, I hope he comprehends I gaily travel. Friends may call 3-7 p.m. Monday, April 16, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 17, at St. John’s Catholic Church, 207 York St., Bangor, with the Very Rev. Richard McLaughlin pastor, celebrant. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor. Gifts in her memory may be sent to St. Joseph Healthcare, P.O. Box 1638, Bangor, ME 04402-1638. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com