Arlene M. Brown

Arlene Merrifield Brown passed away peacefully with loving family at her side Sunday, July 3, 2005.She was born in Springvale, Maine on September 6, 1920, the first daughter of Viola Ridlon Merrifield (Holland) and Frank Sumner Merrifield.Arlene graduated from Sanford High School in 1938 and married Charles W. Brown in 1940. Family was her chosen focus. Cooking, sewing and flower gardening became her specialties. In the 1950s she ran a home business baking and decorating tiered wedding and anniversary cakes. She sewed clothes for her three daughters from school dresses to prom dresses, and later handmade and sold crafts at fairs in Maine and Massachusetts. This year she was at work creating an elaborate silk quilt. A succession of flowers bloomed around her home throughout the summer and crowded her front porch the rest of the year. Her church home was the Pleasant Street Free Baptist Church where she served as financial secretary, cooked and served church suppers with the Gleaners, delivered flowers and sent cards and notes to shut-ins. She was a life member of Ruth Chapter 14, Order of Eastern Star. During retirement she was a member of the Downeasters with other motorhome owners, traveled to all fifty states with her husband, and to the end corresponded with the many friends she made along the way.She is predeceased by her husband of over 60 years, Charles W. Brown, by her sister Doris Holland, and brothers Dana Merrifield and Bernard Ridlon.She is survived by three daughters; Linda Kay Brown and Leigh Goren ofSpringvale, Maine, Deanna Louise and Jack Culbert of Monroe, Connecticut, and Cynthia Janet Brown of Boca Raton, Florida. By her grandchildren, Adam Charles and Elizabeth Culbert of Derby, Connecticut, and Lisa Ann Culbert of Los Angeles, California. By her sister Loreta and Emile Provencher of Rockledge, Florida, and by her brother William A. Holland of Sanford, Maine. By her sisters and brothers-in law: Gertrude and Lawrence Cheney of North Berwick, Gladys and George Roberts of Alfred, Marjorie Brown of Sanford, Franklin and Wanda Brown of Shapleigh. By her many nieces and nephews in Maine and across the country.Visiting hours will be Tuesday July 5, 2005, from 2 to 4 PM and 6 to 8 PM at the Carll-Heald & Black Funeral Home, 580 Main St. Springvale, ME. Funeral services will be held at the Pleasant Street Free Baptist Church at 11:00 AM on Wednesday the 6th.If desired, in lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Pleasant Street Free Baptist Church, 4-6 Pleasant Street, Springvale, Maine 04083 for either the Steeple Fund or the Organ Fund.