Althea M. Hanscom

Althea M. Hanscom, 85, of North Waterboro died October 30, 2004 at Sanford Health Care Facility after several years with osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's Disease. The daughter of Erving N. and A. Mildred (May) Stuart, she was born May 29, 1919, in the Shoreyville section of East Rochester, N.H., in the house builtby her father before his marriage. In 1921 the family moved to the West Road in South Waterboro where they lived until December of 1932, when they moved to the Ossipee Hill Road in Waterboro Center. She attended Old Corner School through the 8th grade and then Waterboro High School. While employed at E. A. Clark's Clover Farm Store in Waterboro Center, she met her husband, John E. Hanscom, whom she married in 1939. For sixty years she ived on the Chadbourne/Hanscom farm on Chadbourne's Ridge in North Waterboro. Her husband died in August 1985.Over the years she was a caregiver for several of her own and her husband's family members. After the death of her husband, she was a volunteer for the Saco Valley Hospice Association.Mrs. Hanscom was an active member of the North Waterboro Fire Department Ladies' Auxiliary, the Waterborough Historical Society, and the Elder Grey Meeting House-Cemetery Assn. For many years, as Clerk of the Assn, she prepared and mailed invitations to the Elder Grey Meeting House annual pilgrimage service.She was a member of the North Waterboro Community Baptist Church where she sang in the choir and for seventeen years taught Sunday School. Although she loved her home, she also loved to travel. With her husband she spent several winters in Naples and Bonita Springs, Fla., traveled to California a few times, drove the length of the Trans-Canada Highway, and vacationed in Hawaii. After her husband's death, she spent time in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and took a second trip to Hawaii with friends and in 1987 visited the British Isles with her daughter.Survivors include her daughter, Linda Hanscom of North Waterboro; two sisters, Julia Kutzer of Bandon, Oregon, and Thelma Cudmore of Alfred; two brothers,H. Spencer Stuart of Buxton and Ronald Stuart of Waterboro; and many nieces and nephews.Besides her husband, she was predeceased by her sister, Flora Ayers, and her brother, Earlon Stuart.There will be no visiting hours, and burial will be private. A memorial service will be held in the spring at the Elder Grey Meeting House on Chadbourne's Ridge, North Waterboro.Memorial contributions may be made to the Elder Grey Meeting House-Cemetery Association, 265 Chadbourne's Ridge Road, North Waterboro 04061; the Community Baptist Church, c/o Pauline Keith, Treasurer, 155 Lord Road, North Waterboro 04061; or to the Alzheimer's Association, Maine Chapter, 163 Lancaster Street Suite 160B, Portland, ME 04101.