YELM, Wash. and GLEN COVE, Maine — Donna “Dee Dee” Vester Martinez, 48, died peacefully, following an extended illness, Aug. 12, 2013, at University of Seattle Hospital in Seattle, Wash.

Born Aug. 7, 1965, in Fayetteville, N.C., she was the daughter of Frederick and Helen Stanley Vester. Growing up in Glen Cove, and educated locally, she was a 1983 graduate of Camden High School.

Following high school, Dee Dee attended the University of Maine at Augusta for a few years before moving to Washington state.

In 1998 Dee Dee married Kim Martinez. Together they have made their home in Yelm where she has worked as a manager in the restaurant business for many years.

An accomplished artist, Dee Dee enjoyed making beaded pieces. Her sister said she made beautiful jewelry, ornaments and doilies, a craft she has enjoyed since grade school. She was an avid animal lover, especially her two dogs, Gus and Roxy.

Dee Dee will be remembered as a very outgoing, social person, always the life of the party. She was well liked and will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Predeceased by her father in 1966; Dee Dee is survived by her mother, Helen Bickford of Rockland; her husband, Kim Martinez of Yelm, Wash.; her sister, Brandie Bickford; her brother, Scott “Skip” Bickford Jr.; and her nephews, Coben Bickford-Seavey and Jeffrey Bickford-Heald, all of Rockport; a niece Olivia Dooley of Maryland; her aunt, Nancy Counce and her husband, Alan, of Rockland; her cousins, Adrian Counce of Belfast and Ryan Counce of Rockland; her step-father, Scott Bickford Sr. and his wife, Marie, of Warren; her maternal grandfather, Gordon Stanley of Glen Cove; as well as several other cousins.

A potluck celebration of Dee Dee's life will be held Friday, Aug. 3, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 104 Limerock in Rockland, Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home's reception facility.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home in Rockland. To share a memory or condolence with Dee Dee's family, visit her Book of Memories online at the funeral home.