CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Venia Elizabeth nee Keene Averill, 97, died March 6, 2004. Mrs. Averill was born in 1906, in Kingman, the daughter of Alta M. Smith-Jordan Keene and Percy C. Keene. She was a graduate of St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, Vt. Mr. and Mrs. Averill lived in Bangor, and enjoyed 15 years of retirement together. When not traveling, they enjoyed Bangor in the warm months and St. Petersburg Beach, Fla., in the winter. Mrs. Averill had lived in Charlottesville, Va., near her younger daughter, Ruth, since 1991. Mrs. Averill was predeceased by her husband of nearly 60 years, Robert Wallace Averill; her brother, Alton P. Keene; and her brother, Burt M. Keene. Both brothers and their families were of Glens Falls, N.Y. She was also predeceased by her cousin, Percy Spencer. Mr. Spencer was named for her father and grew up in her home. She is survived by her daughter, Dr. Sona A. Wyman and husband, Rev. Dr. Henry G. Wyman, of Bangor; her daughter, Ruth A. Smith and husband, Richard R. Smith, of Waynesboro, Va. Mrs. Averill is also survived by five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; as well as nieces and a nephew. Her grandchildren are Rev. Susan E. Wyman and husband, Rev. Dr. Steven P. Blackburn and their children, Averill and Jamey, of Pleasant Valley, Conn.; Nancy Smith Houff and husband, Tony Houff and their children, Sarah, David and Eric, of Blacksburg, Va.; Stephen H. Wyman and wife, Nancy Thompson Wyman and children, Lindsey and Kylie, of Hopkinton, Mass.; Pamela Smith Eshelman and husband, Peter Eshelman, of Elkins Park, Pa.; and Richard R. Smith Jr. and wife, Tina H. Smith and children, Stephanie and Richard R. Smith III of Raleigh, N.C. The organizations in which Mrs. Averill was active include Hammond Street Congregational Church, where she and her husband worked and held offices for many years and where specifically Mrs. Averill was longtime Deaconess and Chair of the Woman’s Fellowship. For many years, she held office in the District Nursing Association, the YWCA Board and was a member of the Board of the Home for Aged Women, now a part of the Philips Strickland House. Mrs. Averill was a member of the Eastern Star and a longtime officer of the federated Norumbega Club. Mrs. Averill was a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Through the line of her mother, she is a direct descendant of Frances Deighton Williams for who the Bangor-Brewer NSDAR is named. She was also a member of the Mayflower Descendants in the State of Maine, the Magna Charta Society and the Plantagenet Society. While Mrs. Averill maintained her residence in Bangor from the 1920’s, her life spanned a time when screened doors and windows were left open during summer nights and her doors were always open for neighborhood children to drop off sports equipment mornings and books exchanged for equipment after school. After skating or baseball at the park children picked up their books to return home. Adults still speak of her caring. Mrs. Averill often spoke of the awesome stillness and the breathtaking beauty of the Maine woods after a five-foot snowfall. Private services and interment at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor, will take place at a future date. Gifts may be made in her name to the Memorial Fund of the Hammond Street Congregational Church, 28 High St., Bangor, ME 04401.
VENIA ELIZABETH AVERILL
