EASTPORT – Arlene Wardwell Lawler, 102, died Thursday, March 4, 2010, at Eastport Memorial Nursing Home. Mrs. Lawler was born June 30, 1907, in Middleboro, Mass., daughter of the late William and Mary (Wilbur) Wardwell. Arlene was born at home, the second of four siblings and three half siblings. She graduated from Howard High School, West Bridgewater, Mass., and then continued her schooling in the field of elementary education graduating from Bridgewater Normal School, Class of 1928. She continued her education on a part time basis, receiving her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Maine in the mid-1950s. She was the first in her family to earn a college education and financed her education working part time as a telephone operator. After finishing normal school she took a job teaching first grade in Conway, N.H. The principal was Frank Lawler, a native of Eastport. They married March 25, 1931, in Cochesett, Mass. In 2006, they celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary while living together at Eastport Memorial Nursing Home. Arlene and Frank were steadfast, loving companions who always kept each other in their hearts and thoughts. Arlene worked as an elementary teacher in New England wherever they lived all of her career. In the early days of her career it was not uncommon for her to have to obtain special permission from the school board, as married women were normally not allowed to teach. She returned with Frank to Eastport on many occasions and used to tell stories of the Roosevelt’s coming to Eastport to shop in the summertime from Campobello, where they had their summer home. She enjoyed entertaining friends and family and lived a wholesome Christian life. She departs us to join her husband, whom she missed very much. She was a loving wife, mother, daughter and grandmother who will be missed by those she leaves. May God hold their spirits gently in his hands along with those who have made this journey before her. Surviving are her two sons, Frank Dale Lawler and his wife, Edith, of Indiana, and James Delbert Lawler and his wife, Joanne, of North Carolina; six grandchildren, Jennifer Windsor and husband, Jack, Timothy Lawler and wife, Lori, James “Alex” Lawler, Patricia Doggendorf and husband, Bill, Nancy Lawler and husband, Joe Scanlon, and Mill Lawler and wife, Laura; and three great-grandchildren, Jude, Ivan and Chase. A graveside service will be held 10:30 a.m. Monday, March 8, at Hillside Cemetery, Eastport, with Pastor Bob Hinton officiating. Arrangements by Mays Funeral Home, Calais and Eastport. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.maysfuneralhome.com.
ARLENE WARDWELL LAWLER
