CHEBEAGUE ISLAND – Mabel Estelle Knowles Doughty, 93, died peacefully on Tuesday, February 16, 2016, at the Island Commons. She will be remembered for a lifetime of commitment and generosity to family, friends, and community, as well as for her intelligence, strength, energy, compassion, loyalty and wit.
Mabel E. Knowles was born on May 1, 1922, in Shirley Mills, Maine, one of four children of Arthur Knowles and Gertrude (Phillips) Knowles. Mabel spoke fondly of her hometown, particularly of Shirley Grammar School and Greenville High School, where she played basketball and graduated in 1939.
After attending the YWCA School of Domestic Science in Boston, Mabel worked at Camp West Winds on Chebeague, where she met island fisherman Sanford Doughty. They married in 1943, and shared many years of raising their daughter and fishing aboard the Sirius in Penobscot Bay.
A devoted wife, mother and grandmother, Mabel loved to bake, sew, garden and explore the shoreline with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was there for all the important events of their lives, and she loved describing her granddaughters’ and great-grandchildren’s accomplishments to friends.
Mabel’s commitment to Chebeague Island lasted a lifetime and will have an enduring influence. In 2005, it was Mabel’s comment that “it’s time to row our own boat” that led to the creation of the Town of Chebeague. In her 80s, Mabel was one of five island representatives to travel to Augusta to petition the Legislature to secede from Cumberland. She helped found and was a member of many island organizations throughout her life, and she served on both the Town Planning Board and the Hall Association Board until her death.
Mabel is survived by her daughter, Jacqueline Doughty Trask; son-in-law, George Trask; granddaughters, Laura Trask and her husband, David Tyler of Minot, Amy Trask and her husband, Aaron Pyle, of Bangor and Jennifer Bunch and her husband, Bryan, of Denver, Colo.; great-grandchildren, Mabel, Lila and Paden; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Sanford Doughty; two brothers, Leslie Knowles and Sheldon Knowles; and a sister, Ethel Smith.
A celebration of Mabel’s life will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2016, at the Chebeague Island United Methodist Church. A reception will follow at the Island Hall. (There will be a bus at the Stone Pier to meet the 12:15 boat from Cousins Island for those who wish to attend from the mainland. Please visit Chebeague.org for detailed information about bus and boat transportation to the service.) In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Island Commons, 132 Littlefield Rd.; or Chebeague Island United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 1; or Chebeague Island Hall Kitchen Fund, care of Dianne Brewer, 6 Rose’s Point Rd., Chebeague Island, ME 04017.