MARION LOUISE (NORMAN) CHAPMAN

WINSLOW – Marion Louise (Norman) Chapman, 79, passed away peacefully Sunday, April 18, 2010, surrounded by her loving children; grandson and caregiver, Roger C. Smith Jr.; extended family and friends at her home. She was born July 9, 1930, in Oakland, daughter of Earlen J. Norman Sr., who passed away in 1967, and Leople (Pulcifer) Bickford, of Oakland, who passed away in 1986. Marion’s devoted and kind grandparents, Lee V. Pulcifer, who passed away in 1973, and Nettie (Payson) Pulcifer, of Oakland, who passed away in 1963, deserve special mention as they took Marion into their home and raised her from about age 12 to adulthood. Marion’s formative years were spent living off the sea in Boothbay Harbor. These years gave rise to a special connection with fresh salty air and the sound of waves crashing on the shoreline. A period remembered with fondness throughout her life. As a young adult, Marion had a wonderful voice and was an avid singer. She served as choir member at her church, Oakland United Methodist Church, and participated in high school regional competitions in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and southern Canada. She was also on the girls’ basketball team and a cheerleader for boys’ sports. In 1947, at age 16, she graduated with 12 other seniors from Williams High School, Oakland. While a student at Williams High School, she was employed at Dexter’s Drug Store, Waterville. After graduating she accepted an office job in a shoe store in Norridgewock, working there during the Great Fires of 1947. Within a couple of years she had moved on to a cotton mill in Waterville, and woolen mills in Fairfield and Oakland. During the 1950s and 1960s, she worked in the delivery ward of the osteopathic hospital, now Inland Hospital, Waterville, assisting and in some cases delivering more than 500 babies, including her youngest sister and niece. In the early 1970s, she moved to Bangor and went to work for AT&T and New England Telephone. After retiring in 1991, she returned to her roots in the Kennebec County area and settled in Winslow. Throughout her life, Marion enjoyed watching musicals, ice-skating competitions and Law and Order dramas, playing Beano and tournament cribbage. She also loved gardening and oil painting on canvas and ceramics, especially light houses and ocean scenes, leaving many personal mementos to those whom loved her most. She will always be remembered as a loving and devoted grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. She was predeceased by her grandparents, parents; son, Michael A. Chapman, in 1959; daughter, Rebecca L. (Chapman) Smith, in 2007; brother, Linton Bickford Jr., in 2009; and brother-in-law, Joseph V. Perry, in 2007. Marion is survived by her brothers, Earlen J. Norman Jr. and his wife, Ann, of Belgrade, and Sherwood Bickford and his wife, Bonnie, of Smithfield; sisters, Elaine (Bickford) Perry of Oakland, and Carol (Bickford) Salley and her husband, Kenneth, of Smithfield; sister-in-law, Barbie Bickford of Green Cove Springs, Fla.; sons, Stephen E. Chapman Jr. and his wife, Katherine, of North Charleston, S.C., Mark E. Chapman and his wife, Gloria, of Hooksett, N.H., Scott J. Chapman and his wife, Elsa, of Wilton, N.H., and Jon K. Chapman of Bangor and his fiancee, Elisabeth Daub; daughter, Deborah A. Chapman of Bangor and her partner, Carol Cookson; many first and second cousins from the eastern shores of America westward to Hawaii; special friends, Marlene Chapman of Benton, Jacqueline Varney of Waterville, Jan Osborn of Oakland and Tressa Nelson of Presque Isle; 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, 15 nieces and nephews. A celebration of Marion’s life will be held 10 a.m. Friday, April 23, at her longtime church, Oakland-Sidney United Methodist Church, 20 West School St., Oakland, after which a reception will be held in the fellowship hall at the church. Marion’s ashes will be interred at Lakeview Cemetery, Oakland, during a special ceremony on a date to be determined during the summer of 2010. In lieu of flowers, please pray for Marion’s eternal soul and/or send a memorial donation to Oakland-Sidney United Methodist Church, 20 West School St., Oakland, ME 04963, 207-465-3222, where her family has established a memorial fund in her honor.