Obituary

Louise Bickford, obituary

Thu, 07/23/2015 - 3:15pm

VINALHAVEN — Louise Mabel Bickford, 93, passed away July 21, 2015, at the Ivan Calderwood Homestead in Vinalhaven. Born in Vinalhaven on Sept. 4, 1921, she was the daughter of Harvard C. and Nina G. (Loud) Burgess, and was a 1939 graduate of Vinalhaven High School.

A lifelong member of the Union Church, at the age of 14, Louise started playing the more than 100-year-old Jessie Woodberry & Company pipe organ at the Union Church, where she continued to play until 2012. As a teenager, Louise played the organ while the boys worked the pumps of the organ. She also played for the church choir. In addition to church services, she also played for weddings, graduations, dances, community suppers and funerals. Her kindness and generosity have touched the lives and hearts of many islanders, always donating to the church or local families.

Louise has been a member of the Pleasant River Grange, where she played both piano and organ. An excellent cook, Louise was known for her pumpkin chiffon pies, chocolate peanut butter bars, grape-nut puddings and ham salad sandwiches, which were always at church and community suppers and events. She visited the sick, gave rides to Grange members, delivered groceries, mail and newspapers, and even drove her neighbor so her Avon deliveries could be made.

Louise was employed at the Vinalhaven Post Office as a postal clerk for 35 years, retiring in 1977. She was a three-time widow, having been married to Henry Anderson, who died in 1961, Donald Shields, who died in 1973, and Clyde Bickford Sr., who died in 2002.

Surviving are her two children, Harold Anderson and his wife, Mary of W. Islip, N.Y., and Henrietta J. Winslow and her husband, Charlie, of Mebane, N.C.; her stepchildren, Donald Shields of Maine, William Shields in Massachusetts, Dan Bickford of Vinalhaven, Joanne Young of Orono and Clyde Bickford Jr. of California; 10 grandchildren, six step-grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, several nieces, a nephew, and several cousins.

She was predeceased by her three husbands; her brother, Eugene Burgess and his wife, Lucille; her sisters Alice Hanley and her husband, James, and Beatrice Ames; and a granddaughter, Megan Anderson.

There will be a funeral service on Sunday, July 26 at 1:30 p.m. at the Union Church in Vinalhaven, with the Rev. John Potter officiating. Burial will follow in Cummings Cemetery.

If desired, memorial gifts may be made to Vinalhaven Eldercare Services, P.O. Box 624, Vinalhaven, ME 04863 or to the Union Church, P.O. Box 249, Vinalhaven, ME 04863.

Arrangements are with Long Funeral Home.