ROCKLAND — Esther F. McNealy, 89, died Dec. 21, 2013, at Pen Bay Medical Center after a long and blessed life.

Born in Rockland Dec. 14, 1924, she was the daughter of Ralph W. and Olive E. Wentworth Young. Esther grew up in Union, where she attended local schools and was a 1942 graduate of Union High School.

She then attended Gates Business School in Augusta, and during that same time worked for two years at the War Rationing Board in Rockland.

Esther later attended Wilson's School of Medical Technology in Boston and for the next two years worked in that profession at Bartholomew City Hospital in Columbus, Ind. At Columbus Christian Church, she met the man with whom she would fall in love, Fred E. McNealy.

Returning to Rockland, Esther worked a year at the former Knox County General Hospital. Fred followed Esther back to Maine, where they married at First Baptist Church of Rockland on July 16, 1949. They made their home in Rockland all their married lives.

After raising her three children, Esther returned to work at the Rockland bureau of the Portland Press Herald. The first 19 years in that office she worked part-time, and for the last three years full-time until her retirement in 1989, following 22 years of service with the Press Herald.

Throughout her life, Esther devoted much of her time to the church, always desiring to further share the wonderful hope of her Lord and Savior. Esther also enjoyed volunteering at the First Baptist Church Bookstore on Main Street.

With her husband, she delighted in traveling to many different places including Ireland, England, Scotland, France and Switzerland, and regularly visited her out-of-state daughter and family. Memory books were made to celebrate special events. She found pleasure in cooking, braiding rugs, crocheting and reading. Great memories are shared with family and friends playing competitive board games, including Scrabble, Parcheesi, Pit and backgammon.

Esther was predeceased by her parents; and her sister, Pauline Earl, in 1998. She is survived by her beloved husband of 64 years, Fred E. McNealy of Rockland; her three children and their spouses, Jeanette and Bernard Whitehead of Carlsbad, Calif, Thomas and Phyllis McNealy of Owls Head, and Jody and Michael Herbert of Rockland. She is also survived by six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Friends and relatives are invited to visit Thursday, Dec. 26, from 10 to 11 a.m. at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock St. in Rockland, where a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m., followed by a reception at the 104 Limerock St. facility. The Rev. Branan Becknell of Littlefield Memorial Baptist Church will officiate. Spring interment will be in Achorn Cemetery in Rockland, at a date to be determined.