FRANKFORT – Frances Rose “Dot” Wotton passed away peacefully Sept. 14, 2011, in her 99th year, at her home on the hill with her family at her side. Dot was born April 13, 1913, in Frankfort, the first child of Walter Ford and Frances Larrabee Trundy.
Dot and her brother, Edward, were eventually raised by their grandmother, Caroline Ham Larrabee and later moved to New Jersey to live with their aunt, Dr. Callie Ham Carver. Auntie had no children of her own, and her niece and nephew were her life, allowing Dot and Ed a very privileged up bringing. She took them on great adventures, some of which were historic moments. They witnessed the Hindenburg Airship disaster in Lakehurst and while touring the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Fort Meyers, Fla., she shared that she attended Thomas Edison’s funeral in Orange, N.J. She first married Will Lane, a World War I soldier in the early 1930s, and lived in Brooks, where she worked with Dr. Jewell as his midwife. Dot was a real “Rosie the Riveter,” wrapping pipes with asbestos on ships at Bath Iron Works during World War II, where she met and later married Harold Wotton. Dot worked at Eastern Maine Medical Center and at Meister’s Nursing Home, Brooks. She did private duty personal care on numerous occasions, and spent summers caring for her friend, Dorothy Milliken, at Breezy Point, Bayside. Dot was the librarian at Waldo Pierce Reading Room, Frankfort, until she was 85, at which time she declared herself too old to be working anymore! Dot resided for the last year and a half at Country Villa, a delightful retirement home in Bangor. There were always places to go, people to visit and meals to eat. Her family extends their appreciation and gratitude to the owners, staff and residents of Country Villa for all their kindness, generosity and care. Dot was the oldest alumni of Good Will-Hinckley School, Fairfield, and the matriarch of the family as we gathered for a large family reunion last year.
Surviving are her daughters, Barbara J. Perkins of Frankfort and Marilyn and husband, Thomas Doe, of Winterport; granddaughters, Callie and husband, Fred Grant, of Prospect, Tami and husband, Michael Young, of Patagonia, Ariz., and Rebecca Doe of Lowell, Mass.; grandsons, Adam and wife, Michelle, of Frankfort and Robert Doe of Winterport; and great-grandchildren, Clint, Melanie, Brayden, Kergan, Delaney, Hannah, Brianna and Tyler. Dot also leaves stepchildren, Ramon Wotton of Meriden, Conn., Clinton Wotton of Kittery, Laura W. Smith of Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., and Kevin Sigler of Suisun, Calif.; many stepgrandchildren; two brothers, John and wife, Marion Trundy, of Searsport and Florida, and William and wife, Joan Trundy, of Belfast; many special nieces and nephews. Dot leaves very special friends, Frances McFarland, Betty Williams and Ada White; and her loving caregiver, Dotty Havey. She was predeceased by her parents; brother, Dr. Edward L. Trundy; baby sister, Ruthie, in 1918; brother, Walter Ford Trundy Jr.; father of her children, Harold, in 1994; and stepchildren, Harold M. Wotton Jr., Donald Wotton and Carroll Wotton.
At her request, there will be no funeral. She would like to be remembered stamping library books, tending her gardens or meeting friends at yard sales. Please consider a contribution in her memory to Winterport Ambulance Service, P.O. Box 724, Winterport, ME 04496.