Constance Page Hale Spellman

AUGUSTA -- Constance Page Hale Spellman died early on Sunday morning, Sept. 24, 2006, surrounded by her loving family.

In the past week, she celebrated her 64th wedding anniversary, went for a boat ride on Lake Cobbossee, played bridge with friends at the Cohen Center in Augusta and attended her "Mini-Think-Tank" discussion group.

Connie was born at home on Nov. 25, 1919, in Rockaway N.J. She attended the Wilson School and The Beard Preparatory School in Morristown, N.J. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1941 and spent two summers at the UNH Marine Laboratory at the Isles of Shoals, where she met her future husband, Frank Spellman.

They were married in 1942 and lived in New Haven, Conn., where Connie worked in a research lab and husband Frank completed his last year at the Yale Medical School.

They lived in Portland, where he interned at MaineMedical Hospital and she worked as a laboratory technician. During the World War II, they lived in Macon, Ga., Seattle and Carmel, Calif.

They returned to Maine in 1949, settling in Augusta as Frank was assigned to the Togus Veterans Affairs Hospital, working as an internist and ultimately as assistant chief of the Medical Service. Together they raised a family and were very involved in the community.

As a child, Connie first came to Maine in the 1920s with her family, tenting out at Libby's Campground at York Harbor. Her first trip to the newly created Baxter State Park was in the early 1930s, when she enjoyed the splendor of Chimney Pond and Mount Katahdin.

Connie worked at Forum A at the University of Maine at Augusta as Program chairwoman for five years, bringing world-famous artists and performers to the stages at UMA and Cony High School. She took numerous courses in music, art and drama at UMA, recently attending Senior College courses, concerts and other UMA activities.

She served as president of the Augusta Nature Club and was an active with the Abnaki Ski & Outing Club and the Cobbosseecontee Yacht Club for over 40 years. She was a long time member of the Maine Audubon Society, Appalachian Mountain Club and Augusta Country Club. Connie was an enthusiastic golfer, tennis player and loyal Red Sox fan.

Nature, travel and art were her passions.

She traveled extensively with Maine Audubon, her husband and family, with trips to major museum and cultural centers in the USA, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, England, Scotland, Hong Kong and Thailand. She participated in some of the original Audubon Christmas Bird Counts.

Connie served for 17 years as a consumer mediator at the state of Maine Department of the Attorney General, retiring at age 81.

Family hiking was a favorite activity, with climbs in Maine and New Hampshire. In her days at UNH, she made the winter walk up Mount Washington to ski Tuckerman's Ravine. She summered at Heron Cove on Lake Cobbossee since the 1960s, with weeks spent hiking out of the AMC Cold River Camp in North Chatham, N.H.

She is predeceased by Frank, by brothers Charles, Robert and Alfred, and sister Dorothea.

She is survived by her brother Boyden of Raleigh, N.C., and sister Anne of Mansfield, Conn., and Lamoine, Maine.

Her children are daughters Roberta and husband Robert Pettipaw of Waban, Mass., and Kathy; sons Richard and wife Janis of Kennesaw, Ga., and David and wife Paula of Cumberland Foreside and Old Orchard Beach. Her loving grandchildren are Ashley, Paige, Francesca and Natasha.

Visiting hours are on Friday, Sept. 29, from 2-4 and from 6-8 p.m. at Knowlton and Hewins Funeral Home One Church St., Augusta, where a funeral service will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. She will be buried next to her husband at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

And, please, no flowers. Instead, kindly make donations in Connie's name to: Maine Audubon Society, 20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105.

www.khrfuneralhome.com