BREWER – Carrie Florence Thompson, 98, passed away peacefully Aug. 10, 2010, in the early morning. Carrie was born Dec. 19, 1911, in Alton, daughter of Reed and Beatrice Mehann. She came from a large family and had seven brothers and sisters. Carrie was the second oldest. Life on her parents’ farm consisted of lots of hard work, as it was for other people in those days, but was also remembered as a very happy childhood. After finishing elementary school in Alton and skipping several grades, in the age of the one-room schoolhouse, Carrie went to high school in Old Town. Even education was difficult in those days if you lived in a rural community like Alton. For example, there were no school busses. For Carrie and her brothers and sisters to go to high school, they needed to “board” in town during the week, and their father would pick them up to come home on Fridays and then bring them back to town on Sunday evening. In the winter, this 10-mile trip would often be made with horses and a sleigh. After high school, Carrie went to what was then called Beal Business College, and after that she went to work for Old Town Canoe Co., where she worked a number of years. Carrie was an independent young woman and the memory of working and buying her first automobile to get back and forth to work from Alton always brought a smile to her face. Carrie married her husband, Virgil Thompson of Milford, in the summer of 1941. After Pearl Harbor in December of that year, everything changed. Virgil joined the service and Carrie and he were separated for most of the war years, until 1945 when Virgil returned home. Carrie’s only child, her son, Reed, was born in Bangor, in 1946. Virgil rejoined the military in 1949 and subsequently made the Air Force his career. In the years afterward, Carrie, Virgil and Reed lived on Air Force bases in many different parts of the world. They first lived in Guam, then Florida, France, back to Maine at Loring, then Anchorage, Alaska, and Cheyenne, Wyo. Virgil retired from the military in 1967 and he and Carrie returned to Maine and bought a home in Brewer. Carrie subsequently worked at the University of Maine until the late 1970s, when she retired, and really began to work on her prized flower garden. Up until the very last years of her life, Carrie enjoyed physical pursuits such as picking her own strawberries to make preserves. In November of each year, well into her 90s, she would collect fir tips so that she could make her own special holiday wreaths, which she gave to many friends. Most of Carrie’s loved ones who were relatives predeceased her. Her husband, Virgil, passed away in 1996; and her last two remaining sisters, who she was especially close to, Francis Bybee and Marguerite Mehann, both died in 2000. She is survived by many dear friends, including members of an informal Bible study group that she very much enjoyed being a part of for so many years. She is also survived by her son, Reed; daughter-in-law, Karen; brother-in-law, Charles Bybee; brother and sister-in-law, Norman and Olive Taylor; cousin, Mary Small; and others too numerous to mention. People will surely remember Carrie for a life well lived, the thoughtful, loyal and caring friend that she was to so many, and her love of her family. Even though Carrie lived to be 98, she was generally blessed with good health up until the time of her death, something that she was always keenly appreciative of and grateful for. In that regard, her family expresses its deep appreciation for the exceptional care, respect and attention provided to her by Dr. Frederick Heineman, who made a difference. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 14, at Alton Methodist Church, Route 16, Alton, with Pastor Joyce Lovely and the Rev. Dr. George Curtis III officiating. A burial service will be afterward at the nearby Alton Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Birmingham Funeral Home, Old Town. <
CARRIE FLORENCE THOMPSON
