BREWER – Frank A. Parlee, 85, died peacefully Nov. 29, 2009, after a brief, courageous battle with cancer. Frank was born Jan. 26, 1924, the son of John and Lillian (Hall) Parlee. He attended Brewer schools and graduated in 1943 from Brewer High School, where he played football. During a career as a contractor that spanned decades, Frank oversaw the construction of many homes, including many of the houses in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood of Brewer. Two of those homes went to Frank’s daughters, Pamela and Patricia, who raised their families just a few blocks apart, allowing him to watch his grandkids grow up around him. A true patriarch, “Pop-pop” watched over his family with love, support and more than a little amusement. When the grandchildren were growing up, summer days were spent at Pop-pop’s camp on Lucerne Lake, where he showed the kids how to bait a hook and play cards, all while listening to his beloved Red Sox on the radio. Trips with Pop-pop always seemed to start with a stop at the ice cream cone shop, and end with a piece of candy pulled from his pocket. As the years went on, Frank’s hearing and mobility suffered, but not his sense of humor and knack for telling a good story. Throughout his life, and until his last few days, Frank liked to revisit earlier years through these tales, which were usually about facing down neighborhood bullies, outwitting a classmate, or winning the hand of his first love, Natalie. The stories were littered with Brewer landmarks and the faces of his old classmates. Pop-pop was always the hero in these stories, which he told with a twinkle in his eye, so that no one knew what was fact and what was fiction. In his later years, Frank loved nothing more than sitting in a comfortable chair at one of the many family cookouts at his granddaughter, Jen’s house. He wanted to hear about each of his grandchildren, who were by that point building lives and families of their own, while watching his three great-grandchildren play. Up until the end, his family meant everything to him, and in return he gave them years of joy and enough stories to last a hundred lifetimes. He was predeceased by his loving wife, Natalie; two brothers, William and John Jr.; a sister, Christine Lydick; and a son-in-law, Gene Bragdon. Frank is survived by two daughters, Patricia “TC” Hanna and her husband, David, and Pamela Harris, both of Brewer; grandchildren, Jennifer Brooks and her husband, Larry, of Brewer, Melinda Kane and her husband, Michael, of Bangor, Jake Harris and his fianc?e, Theresa Aversano, of Dedham, and Ben Bragdon and his girlfriend, Candace Walsh, of Portland; great-grandchildren, Tyler, Alex and Jordan Brooks, all of Brewer; two sisters, Ruth Devaux and Bernice “Nicee” Gallant; a brother, Bob; close sisters-in-law, Marion Andrews, Frieda LaFata and her husband, Joe, and Lillian Thomas; as well as many loved nieces, nephews and other relatives. At Frank’s request there will be no funeral services. A private burial ceremony will be held.
FRANK A. PARLEE
