Phyllis May (Palmer) Young, obituary

Thu, 03/09/2023 - 3:30pm

CAMDEN — Phyllis May (Palmer) Young, a resident of Sea Street in Camden since 1969, died Saturday, March 4, 2023 at the age of 89, of COVID after a long struggle with dementia.

Born on July 19, 1933, Phyllis was the daughter of Charles Stephen and Sarah ‘Sadie’ May Palmer of Weymouth, Massachusetts. She graduated from Weymouth High School in 1951, received a BS in Education from Boston State Teachers College in 1959, her Master of Science from Eastern Connecticut State College in 1969, and her Certificate of Advanced Study in Library Science from UMaine Orono in 1987.

Phyllis taught elementary school for five years at Hunt School in Weymouth, Massachusetts before marrying William Forbes Young, USCG of Newton, Massachusetts in 1964. They moved to Nantucket where Phyllis taught at Academy Hill School and where her son, William Palmer Young, was born. The family moved to New London, Connecticut a year later, where daughter Katherine May Young was born in 1965. In 1969, they transferred to Rockland, Maine where William was Captain of the Snohomish and the White Lupine before he retired in 1976, and then went to work in the North Sea. They divorced in 1986.

She became a librarian in 1977, first working at the Camden Public Library then at Rockport Elementary School, retiring in 2000. She loved helping young people learn. It was always fun to take Phyllis shopping or out to dinner and inevitably, a former student would remember her and thank her for her patience with them, which charmed her to no end!

Phyllis loved meeting friends for coffee and breakfast, playing cards, and looking around garage sales and thrift shops. Having travelled a lot with her husband when he worked overseas, she enjoyed numerous trips in retirement including four visits to New Zealand when her daughter lived there. She particularly loved Camden and Sea Street, being a friendly neighbor to all for many years.

She was predeceased by her parents and three sisters: Carolyn Dwyer, Eleanor Dwyer Smith and Charleen Palmer Peterson.

Her son, William, lives in Topsham and her daughter, Katherine, in Ellsworth.

There will be no service. If you are moved to remember Phyllis, make a donation to the Camden Public Library so that they can buy a mystery book in her memory.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.