PITTSFIELD – Shelia “Pinky” A. Mathews, 79, passed away July 30, 2005, at the Sebasticook Valley healthcare facility after a long illness. She was surrounded by family and friends. She was born March 27, 1926, in Norridgewock, the daughter of Orie and Raspah Mitchell. She graduated from Newport High School. On Aug. 21, 1945, she married Harris Vernon Mathews Jr., of Pittsfield. She worked for the former Judge Jude in Newport; she clerked in several area grocery stores. She retired from SAD No. 53 food service programs after 25 years of service. She was a hard working mother and wife. She was a lifetime member of the Eastern Star, and was a former Sunday school teacher at the Universalist Church in Pittsfield, and a den mother for pack 428 Boy Scouts of America in Pittsfield. In her younger years, she hunted, fished, and camped with her family and friends, she enjoyed gardening and yard work. She will be remembered as a strong willed and independent woman, whose family and friends always came first. She is survived by two sons, Barry Mathews and his wife, Sylvia, of Robertsdale, Ala., Robert Mathews of Pittsfield; a daughter, Ann Duncombe and her husband, Peter, of Pittsfield; she is also survived by four grandchildren, Kevan, Mathew, Heidi, Trey; and a great-grandson, Lauton. She was predeceased by her husband, Harris Mathews Jr.; her parents, Orie and Raspah; brothers, Hershal, Myron, Floyd, Basil, Leland, and Frank, sisters, Julia, Barbara and Avis; and an infant brother that died at birth. Funeral service will be held 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2, at Donald H. Shorey Funeral Chapel, 35 Hartland Ave., Pittsfield, with the Rev. Granger officiating. Donation may be made in Shelia’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association, Maine Chapter, 163 Lancaster St., Suite 160B, Portland, ME 04101-2406