Cumberland Center and Hancock ~ Joyce Hancock Crosen passed away Sunday, July 14, 2013 among her loving family and caring community at Sedgewood Commons, Falmouth, Maine, after a long but graceful journey with dementia. She was born July 23, 1930 in Hancock, daughter of James Fuller Hancock and Hilda Louise (Johnston) Hancock. She grew up at their home in Mount Desert Ferry.
Always a passionate reader with a desire to learn, Joyce graduated as valedictorian from Ellsworth High School in 1948. Summer work as cook/housekeeper for Miss Hope Smith of Providence, R.I., at her cottage on Hancock Point, led to an opportunity for Joyce to attend Brown University (Pembroke), where she majored in English literature.
After graduating from Brown in 1952, Joyce returned to Ellsworth for a job teaching high school English. One enchanted fall evening, she met Robert (Bob) Crosen, a junior at the University of Maine in Orono. They met at a Mariaville Grange Hall dance and it was love at first sight. They became engaged after four dates, and were married in 1953 in Hancock. Their love would remain strong and true through a happy marriage lasting six decades.
After Bob’s graduation, they lived in the Philadelphia and Boston areas prior to moving back to their beloved Maine in 1960, settling in Cumberland Center. A wonderful and loving wife, mother, cook, and homemaker, Joyce also substitute-taught in the Cumberland school system and was a junior high library assistant. She read widely, regularly wrote letters, and created a published series of 50 double-crostic puzzles featuring literary quotes. She also much enjoyed crafts including knitting, sewing, making dolls and doll clothes, braiding and hooking rugs. She was active in the church and taught Sunday school.
Joyce always had a sense of adventure and greatly enjoyed planning and going on outings and trips with her family. As empty-nesters, she and Bob traveled to many destinations around America and Europe. She also loved going to the Crosen family camp on Beech Hill Pond in Otis.
She will be missed by her loving husband of 60 years, Bob; daughter Jane and her husband, Richard Washburn, of Penobscot; son Glenn and his wife Nancy, of West Chester, Pennsylvania; grand-daughters Kelsey, Megan and Molly Crosen; cousins Norris Johnston, of Ellsworth, and Earl Johnston and his wife Betty, of Hancock; niece Karen (Sadler)McLean-Wilson, of California; along with friends, neighbors, and caregivers.
The family gives grateful thanks to Home Instead and Sedgewood Commons, whose caring and skilled staffs have provided the support that has been so necessary.
A time of gathering will be held on Monday July 29, 2013 from 9:00 – 11 AM with a funeral service at 10:00 AM at Lindquist Funeral Home, One Mayberry Lane, Yarmouth, followed by interment at 3:30 PM in Riverside Cemetery, Hancock. Please visit www.lindquistfuneralhome.com to view a video collage of Joyce’s life and to share condolences, memories and tributes with her family.
In lieu of flowers, a donation in Joyce’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association would be most appreciated. Their address is 170 U.S. Route One, Suite 250, Falmouth, Maine 04105.
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