HARRINGTON – Lela May Mitchell died Aug. 21, 2012, in Portland. Lela was born Sept. 14, 1922, in Columbia Falls, to Amy Griffin Ingersoll and Percy Ingersoll.
A 1940 graduate of Columbia Falls High School, she married Alfred John Mitchell in 1941. They were married for 57 years. Lela worked packing fish, shucking clams, making wreaths, and making a home for her family on Pineo’s Point in the same house her husband was born and raised. She was an amazing, giving and helpful person, and volunteered a great deal of her time. She was a board member and emergency medical technician volunteer for Petit Manan Ambulance Service for many years. She worked for the Senior Companion program of Machias for nearly a decade and was a member of Faith Methodist Church, Columbia. Lela received the National Service Volunteerism Award from the governor at a special ceremony in Augusta in 2005 for her many years of selfless service.
Lela was predeceased by her husband, Alfred, in 1998; and by her brothers, Fernald and Kenneth Ingersoll. She is survived by sisters, Margaret Ray of Beaumont, Texas, and Louise Terry of Lubbock, Texas; by daughter, Pamela and husband, Norman Anderson, of Cliff Island; and by son, Manuel Mitchell and wife, Nancy, of Newport News, Va. Grandchildren include Todd Anderson and wife, Bonnie, of Lynn, Mass., Eric Anderson and wife, Piper, of Cliff Island, Dorothy Mitchell Hager and husband, Scotty, of Quinton, Va., and John Russell Mitchell of Glen Allen, Va. Great-grandchildren include Evan and Brooke Anderson, Benjamin, Nathaniel and Russell Hager and Edward Anderson. She is especially remembered by her longtime friend and companion, Jim Meehan of Machias.
A graveside ceremony is scheduled 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, at Forrest Hill Cemetery, Harrington. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Senior Companion Program, 28 Center St., Machias, ME 04654.
Lela May Mitchell
