Pauline Edna Conant

PORTLAND - Pauline Edna (McDowell) Conant, 87, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2023 at Seaside Nursing Home in Portland. She was born in Portland to Kenneth Milton McDowell and Doris Pauline (Skillings) McDowell on March 6, 1936. She grew up on Gilman Street in Portland’s west end, worked in her parent’s restaurant, Ken’s Quick Lunch on Congress Street and graduated from Portland High School. After High School, she was introduced to Kendall Conant by her aunt Beulah McDowell and they married shortly after on June 18, 1955. They settled in Westbrook on Park Road and raised a family of five children in Kendall’s childhood home. She was a wonderful homemaker and carefully provided a loving home along with balancing a wide variety of school schedules and extra after school activities for her children. She taught her children to be self-sufficient and to solve their own problems. She enjoyed watching her children grow up while they earned a variety of achievements. In time, each of her children found their way in life through marriages, careers and eventually a whole new generation of grandchildren and great grandchildren. She especially liked visiting and hearing about her grandchildren’s achievements and accomplishments. She humbly taught her children to find their own way in life, to set a goal and then work hard to obtain it. With an empty nest, she returned to the workforce as an office manager at a construction company and also studied for her LPN certification as she worked at a variety of local nursing homes. She loved taking trips around New England to visit with extended family. She was a long time square dancer with her husband Kendall and they made so many lifelong friends over the years. Dancing with friends became such a great hobby, along with sewing new dance outfits and dresses. She loved to winter in Florida and always came back to Maine in the summer. She also loved traveling around the country and taking cruise ships on the Atlantic. She was predeceased by her husband Kendall Conant in 2021, her parents Kenneth and Doris McDowell, son in law Douglas Ashby and grandchildren Tamra, Laura, and Amanda Ashby. She is survived by her children Kendall Jr and his wife Kristin, Kimberly Ashby, Paula Arsenault, Penny Arsenault and her husband Peter and Kevin Conant and his wife Carol. She is also survived by her grandchildren Michael Conant, Kendall Conant III and his wife Sara, Allen Conant and his wife Amanda, Nicholas Arsenault and his wife Kristi, Alex Arsenault, Grace Conant Stockwell and her husband James Stockwell and Anthony Conant; her great grandchildren Bailey Conant, Jacob Conant, Hannah Conant, Calvin Conant, Benjamin Conant and Kingston Conant. Her family would like to extend their deepest appreciation to the staff at Seaside Healthcare. In lieu of flowers, her family suggests sending donations to the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. Friends and family are invited to a funeral service at Dolby, Blais, Segee Funeral Home at 35 Church St., Westbrook, ME on Saturday, August 5, 2023 at 10 am. A time for gathering and sharing will be held immediately afterwards at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 299 Main St., Gorham, ME.

Pauline Edna Conant

March 6, 1936 - July 15, 2023

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