CHARLENE WARD

BLAINE – Charlene Ward, 86, died Oct. 25, 2008, at a Mars Hill health care facility after a brief illness. She was born June 12, 1922, in Blaine, the daughter of Clyde and Verna (Brown) Benson. She graduated from ACI in 1941, moved to Connecticut, where she worked and married her husband, Fred Ward, Aug. 24, 1942. In 1944 they moved back to Blaine, where she has resided. Charlene worked for H. Smith Packing for many years and Aroostook Shoe Co., for 21 years, retiring in 1984. In her earlier years, she loved the outdoors and she enjoyed hunting, fishing and camping with her husband, and especially all the trips to Fowler Pond and Baxter State Park, with friends, Maxine and Rueben Grass, and Ken and Myrtle Benson. She loved playing Cribbage, Parcheesi with Roweena Porter, and Scrabble with her sister, Elva Patterson. She was an avid Red Sox fan. Charlene was an excellent cook and was well known to all the neighborhood kids for her chocolate coconut-filled cookies. She loved her children and grandchildren, and instilled in them the love for family and hard work. She is survived by four children, Nancy Carvell and her husband, Carroll, Freddie Ward and his wife, Paulette, Bob Ward and his fiancee, Paula, and Pam Hickey and her husband, Athill; a brother-in-law, Ronald Townsend; seven grandchildren, Mike and Joe Carvell, Danny, David and Devina Ward, and Ben and Brittany Hickey; six great-grandchildren, Jacob, Kaitlyn, Dekota, Darica, Kassidy and Dawsen; several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by three brothers, Arnold, Lewis and Herschel Benson; and two sisters, Eloise Townsend and Elva Patterson. She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her, especially by a special niece, Dale; and friends, Marie, Joyce, Doris, Dorothy and Pat. Relatives and friends may call 1-2 p.m. Tuesday at Duncan Funeral Home, 8 Main St., Mars Hill. A graveside service will be conducted 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Blaine Cemetery with the Rev. Gardner Smith officiating. Condolences may be expressed at www.duncan-graves.com.