Edna M. Lord

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Edna M. Lord

NORWAY — Edna Miriam Bradford Lord, 105, passed away on January 29, 2013. She was born on August 31, 1907 in Rangeley to Harry and Ethel Bradford. Her parents relocated a few times to different teaching positions throughout Maine. Her father became the principal of Kingfield High School. She roomed with her father and graduated from Kingfield High in 1924. Her mother and younger siblings, Bill, George, Rachel and Gayle, stayed back in Wiscasset and tended to a large apple orchard.

She met her husband, Lawrence Lord, while they both were working at a summer resort in Naples. They were married October 15, 1927, and after living in Naples for two years, they moved to Bolsters Mills, where she resided for the next 85 years. Here they raised their three daughters, Barbara, Laurene and Diana.

Mrs. Lord resumed elementary school teaching, when the girls were teenagers, for 30 plus years, first in Bolsters Mills until the school was closed, and then at Harrison Village School until she retired. She enjoyed every student she had. Her co-teachers always said that she would have preferred not to retire at 62.

She and her husband enjoyed very much having their daughters and their husbands and families visiting over the weekends and during holidays and vacation, in their plenty-of-room home with plenty of home-grown foods.

She was very active in community affairs. Crooked River Grange meetings, dances and Thanksgiving dramas were big in those days in Bolsters Mills. She was a member of Pomona State and National Grange and a member of Elmvale Chapter 105 of Eastern Star in Bolsters Mills for more than 80 years. She always held an office; the last one was "Esther" when she was 103 years old. At 90 she was elected Worthy Matron, a position she had held twice previously. On Sundays she would walk to the church next door and attend the service.

At her 100th birthday attended by 300 or more family, friends and former students, she sang two songs of her time, "Beautiful Ohio" and "My Tin Lizzie" (model T Ford) to perfection, holding a mike in her hand, and she received a standing ovation.

Mrs. Lord is survived by daughters, Barbara Dalgaard and husband and Diana Connell and husband; cousin, Dorothy Bradford; sister-in-law, Ruth Lord; grandchildren, Doreen, Dorcas, Diane, Glen, Carolyn, Janice and Jill; great-grandchildren, Kristopher, Mark, Callie, Jesse, Curtis, Asa, Levi, Melissa, Jonathan, Adam, Ben, Jake, Rebecca, Darren, Paige, Aparna, Alisa, Kamran and Madhura; great-great-grandchildren, Joshua, Samuel, Grace, Kaylee, Natalie, Lydia, Allura, Wyatt and Daniel and many nieces and nephews. Mrs. Lord stayed with a niece, Janice and Mo Fogg for three winters in Freeport. She is also survived by Sandra, a close friend, who lived and cared for "Grammy" for two years. She was predeceased by her husband, Lawrence; daughter, Laurene; grandchildren, Gloria Gene Chaplin, Lawrence "Butch" Wiedemann and Douglas Mattor and great-granddaughter, Diana Elsie Buck.

A memorial service is planned for spring, date and time to be announced. For those who wish to make a donation in Mrs. Lord's memory, her wishes are as follows: Bolster’s Mills United Methodist Church, PO Box 859, Harrison, ME 04040, Elmvale Chapter, O.E.S. #105, c/o Janice Fogg, 337 U.S. Route One, Freeport, ME 04032 or Woolwich Grange #68, c/o Patty Bridgham, 102 Willow Lane, Wiscasset, ME 04378. Arrangements are under the direction of Chandler Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, 45 Main St., South Paris.