FORT FAIRFIELD and PRESQUE ISLE – Marion Findlen Duesing, 99, left this world Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010, to join her loved ones who have gone before her. She was born Aug. 10, 1911, in Fort Fairfield, the eldest daughter of George P. and Helena (Cassidy) Findlen. A graduate of Fort Fairfield High School, Marion attended the University of Maine, Orono. At the end of her sophomore year, she returned home to help her parents with their growing family. After her siblings were grown and gone, she continued to live at the family home assisting in the raising of several of her nieces and nephews, thus earning the nickname of “Auntie Dee,” the name by which she was known to all of her relatives. In July 1950, she married Lewis Duesing and moved to Florida. She and her husband owned and managed apartments in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area. After her husband’s death in 1970, Marion remained in Florida looking after anyone who needed her services, from the very young to the elderly, never asking for anything in return. She particularly enjoyed making little girls dresses and donated them to the Magic Closet, run by Trinity United Church of Christ. She also knit bed socks for area nursing homes and drove the elderly to their appointments. At age 89, Marion packed her belongings in her car and drove home to Aroostook County to be close to relatives. Living at Leisure Village, Presque Isle, she continued in her caring ways, mending clothes and making lap quilts for those at the nursing home and knitting caps for the newborns at The Aroostook Medical Center. The matriarch of our family is gone from our midst. She will be greatly missed. Marion is survived by her sister, Margaret Amsden and her husband, Raymond, of Newport; by a brother, William Findlen and his wife, Dawn; by a sister-in-law, Louise H. Findlen, all of Fort Fairfield; by numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom were very special to her. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by six of her seven brothers, Paul, Thomas, Joseph, George Jr., Herbert and John Findlen; and by a sister, Louise Findlen Gizzi. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, at Parish of the Precious Blood, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Main Street, Presque Isle, with the Rev. Raymond Morency, celebrant. Friends may call 10-11 a.m. at the church. Spring interment will take place at St. Denis Catholic Cemetery, Fort Fairfield. A continued celebration of Marion’s life will be held after the service at Presque Isle Knights of Columbus Hall. Those who wish may contribute in memory of Marion to the charity or organization of one’s choice. Arrangements have been entrusted to Giberson-Dorsey Funeral Home, 144 Main St., Fort Fairfield. <>
MARION FINDLEN DUESING
