Louise E. Lyman

Louise E. Lyman, 80
GRAY -- Louise E. Lyman, 80, of Gray and long time resident of Cape Elizabeth, passed away on Friday, May 13, 2011, at Saint Joseph's Manor in Portland.
Louise was born on April 20, 1931, to Clarence and Doris (Mullen) Schwartz. She had one brother, Ronald, who passed away in 2000.
Growing up on the coast at Two Lights, Louise had a love for the water, and as a young girl she was known to swim in the frigid ocean waters from April to September.
Louise would graduate from Cape Elizabeth High School and marry Frank E. Lyman Jr., and together they would build a home on Hamlin Street and start a family with the birth of their only son, David.
Louise would spend her life as a caretaker. She raised her son and was a homemaker, and as her parents aged and her father lost his battle with Leukemia, Louise would care for her mother until her final days. When her son David lost his wife to cancer, Louise helped raise his two children, Jennifer and David Jr.
In 2004, Frank and Louise would leave the Cape to move to Gray to be closer to their Grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Here Louise started to collect her entourage of wild animals. She had always been a lover of birds and their home was always occupied by cats and dogs. However, here in their little backyard in Gray, she had managed to entertain turkeys, deer, more squirrels and birds than you can imagine, the homeless cats of the neighborhood and she was even eventually able to hand feed a family of raccoons.
For the past few years Louise lovingly cared for her husband and as difficult as it was at times, she wouldn't have had it any other way. When she became ill herself in late 2010 and could no longer care for Frank, they were moved to Saint Joseph's Manor where after 63 years of marriage she lost her husband and best friend in February. Just over three months later Louise would be reunited forever with Frank. Whether she died of a broken heart, out of loneliness or just for the pure fact that she could no longer take care of anyone, even herself, we will never know. What we do know is that she was stronger and braver than any of us ever knew.
Surviving her are her only son, David Lyman Sr. of Old Orchard Beach; grandchildren, Jennifer Fogg and husband Stephen of Gray, David Lyman Jr. and wife Amber of Mechanic Falls; and great-grandchildren, Tristan and Samuel Fogg and Murphy Lyman.
Arrangements are by the Hobbs Funeral Home, South Portland.
Louise E. Lyman