CALAIS – Dorothy Anita (Hayman) Bayliss, 83, died peacefully July 3, 2011, in her sleep at a local nursing home.
She was born April 15, 1928, in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, the daughter of Ralph Thompson and Edna Hattie (Leavitt) Hayman.
She grew up in Milltown, New Brunswick, and graduated from Milltown High School. After a year at Miss Crabb’s Business School she went to work at Garcelon Stamp Co. In 1947 she married the love of her life, Ralph Ellis Bayliss, and made her home with him in Milltown, Maine. Dottie was well known in the St. Croix Valley as a singer, organist and music teacher. As a young woman she sang at the Algonquin Hotel, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, and in several choirs in the area. For 40 years she was church organist at First Methodist Church, Milltown, and later part of Calais United Methodist Church, where she directed the senior and junior choirs. She served on many church committees, including United Methodist Women. She was a member of Orion Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, and was known in Masonic and Eastern Star circles as the “go-to” musician. She was grand organist of the Grand Chapter of Maine from 1979 to 1980. Dot taught piano lessons to many budding musicians in the Calais area. In 2007 she was honored with a portrait by Tom Brennan as part of his continuing series on musicians who have contributed to the cultural life of the St. Croix Valley. She was secretary of the trustees at Calais Free Library for many years, wrote for Calais Advertiser and was the bookkeeper at Treworgy Pharmacy for 30 years. She will be remembered by all for her beautiful smile, her kindness, her love of music and the caring and compassion that she showed to so many people.
Dot was predeceased by her parents; and her beloved Ralphie, who died in 1998, just after their 50th wedding anniversary. She is survived by her daughters, Edna Comstock and her husband, Peter, of Sidney, and Patti Sears and her husband, Rick, of Machias and Grand Lake Stream; two granddaughters, Heather Smale and her husband, Ray, of Calais and Missy Sears and significant other, Dean Carlow, of Baileyville; and three adored great-grandchildren, Jordan Sears, Ashley Knowles and Austin Carlow. She is also survived by her sister, Edith G. Strack of Findlay, Ohio; sisters-in-law, Pat Bayliss of Bangor and Pat Barnard of Calais; as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Visiting hours will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, at Mays Funeral Home, 26 Church St., Calais. A celebration of her life will be held 1 p.m. Thursday at Calais United Methodist Church with the Rev. Dr. David Grainger officiating. Donations in Dot’s memory may be made to Calais United Methodist Church, 849 Main St., Calais, ME 04619. Condolences and memories may be shared at
www.maysfuneralhome.com.