Jeanette Anne Graham

SCARBOROUGH, ME- Jeanette Anne (Burke) Graham, 82, passed away, Sunday February 12, 2017, at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House. She was born February 24, 1934 at the Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary in Portland, ME, a daughter of Harold Thomas and Maude Minnie (Dowling) Burke. Jeanette grew up in Portland and attended Leland Primary School, Henry W. Longfellow Elementary School, Lincoln Junior High School and Deering High School, graduating with the class of 1953, where she was a 4-year member of the Girls’ Cadet Corps. The highlight of her senior year was the class trip to Washington D.C. She had worked the previous summer at Cushman’s Bakery to earn the money to pay for her trip. She was also a member of Theta Rho Girls’ Club. At age of eight, Jeanette suffered with whooping cough for three months. Jeanette’s beloved dog Skippy was her devoted companion for 17 years. As a child, Jeanette loved to go to the movies on the weekend. Among the theaters she would go to was: The Strand, The State, The Empire and The Civic. She would see up to three movies, cartoons, the news and enjoy refreshments- all for $1.00. Jeanette enjoyed employment with Cushman’s Bakery; S.S. Kresge’s Company; The Women’s Shop; George C. Shaw Company for 11 ½ years (1956-1967), in Portland, ME; Rice’s Department Store in Norfolk, VA, where her husband was stationed at the US Marines’ Corps Military Base, and Avon Products Inc. sales representative for 28 years (1986-2014), and most recently as a Foster Grandparent with PROP (People’s Regional Opportunity Program) Maine Senior Volunteer Program and then the Opportunity Alliance from 2007 to 2016, at Henry W. Longfellow Elementary School, Portland, ME, where she enjoyed working with teacher Nancy (Gillis) Chermack in the 1st and 2nd grades classroom, and later the kindergarten classroom for over 9 years (2007-2016), where she was affectionately called ‘Grammy Graham’. She was a proud 40-year member of the Columbia Rebekah Lodge #46 and Ivy Rebekah Lodge #5, where she held the offices of Vice Grand and Noble Grand for many years; She was a long-time member of LEA (Ladies Encampment Auxiliary) #16, holding the offices of Marshal and District Deputy President; The Department Association of L.A.P.M. (Ladies Auxiliary of the Patriarchs Militant of ME), holding the office of Chief Matriarch; ZaZa Zuanna #89; O.E.S. Deering Chapter #59; Class Four Square and Women’s Fellowship at Central Square Baptist Church; and The Female Samaritan’s Association. As a member of the Ladies Auxiliary she helped work on many lodge suppers. For many years she worked in the kitchen at Woodford’s Congregational Church in Portland for the 60-Plus mens group. On June 27, 1954, Dudley Davis Graham and Jeanette Anne Burke were married at Central Square Baptist Church, in Portland, ME. In 1959 they adopted their beloved dog Trixie. In Spring 1960, they bought their first house in the Deering Center section of Portland, ME, where they would raise their daughters, Karen Lynn (b. 1967) and Kerry Jean (b. 1972). In Spring 1961, Jeanette and her mother travelled to Quebec City Province, Canada, also visiting Niagara Falls, NY. In Fall 1965, Jeanette, Dudley, and her mother traveled to New York City for the 1964/1965 World’s Fair Expo. Christmas 1976, Jeanette, her two daughters, mother, sister and brother-in-law travelled via Delta Air Lines to Elizabethton, TN, to visit relatives. On June 27, 2004, Dudley and Jeanette celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a party at the Village Cafe in Portland, ME, with many relatives and friends attending. For many years Jeanette enjoyed spending time with her family at her sister and brother-in-law’s summer cottage on Sebago Lake. She also enjoyed going places and spending time with her long-time good friends Arline M. (Thorndike) Lewis, Lillian D. Swett, Alice Lowell. Alice (Wilson) Cobb and Carlene (Anderson) Chapman. During the summer in the early 1970s, Jeanette and Dudley, and Karen enjoyed traveling with Dudley’s brother and sister-in-law and their two children to amusement parks in Maine and New Hampshire. Also during the summers 1970s-1980s, she and Dudley also enjoyed taking their daughters to Funtown USA Amusement Park, and later in the 1990s-2000s and 2010s, with grandchildren, too. Jeanette enjoyed visiting her daughter Karen and grandchildren Nancy, Jace and Jarrid in the summer and at Christmas time. She also enjoyed attending grandson Garet’s Deering Little Leagues’ baseball games and school basketball games, as well as other school events. She also enjoyed the four recent road trips to the White Mountains of New Hampshire she took with daughter Kerry and grandson Garet. While in New Hampshire they visited Storyland, Santa’s Village and Fort Jefferson Fun Park. She also liked visiting Aquaboggan Water Park, Old Orchard Beach, and York’s Wild Kingdom with her family. Jeanette will be remembered as a caring, generous, good-natured, and outgoing person that loved spending time with and helping family and close friends and her beloved bunnies, Baby, Grayboy, and Sweetie. In addition to her parents Jeanette was predeceased by her loving husband of 53 years Dudley Davis Graham and her sister Cora P. (Burke) Towle. She is survived by her two daughters, Karen Lynn (Graham) Costa of New Bedford, MA, and Kerry Jean Graham of Portland, ME; and four grandchildren, Nancy Anne Costa, Jace Aaron Costa, and Jarrid Lee Costa, of New Bedford, MA and Garet Davis McKenna, of Portland, ME. Visitation will be held 2:00- 4:00 PM, with a Rebekah’s service at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, February 21, at the Dolby Funeral Chapel, 434 River Road, Windham, where a funeral service will be held at 11:00AM Wednesday, February 22. Interment will follow at Brooklawn Memorial Park, 2002 Congress Street, Portland. Those wishing to remember Jeanette may make gifts in her name to Odd Fellows’ and Rebekah’s Home, 85 Caron Lane, Auburn, ME 04210. To express condolences or to participate in Jeanette’s online tribute please visit www.dolbyfuneralchapels.com

Jeanette Anne Graham

February 24, 1934 - February 12, 2017

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