Mary Jeanette Dyer

Mary Jeanette (Watson) Dyer passed away peacefully on April 14, 2016 at the age of 77. Her strength and fierce independence is carried on by her 3 daughters, 9 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren, surviving siblings, and an extended family of relations and friends she has known and loved along the way.

Mary, the oldest of five children, was born in Westbrook (ME) on June 10, 1939 to William and Clara (Clarke) Watson. Growing up with her siblings in Maine, Mary enjoyed being part of the Rainbow Girls and spending time on Long Island (ME) where she loved to swim in the Harbor. Graduating from Westbrook schools in 1957, Mary joined the United States Army and served honorably as an executive chef with the Women’s Army Corp on a base in New Jersey.

After her service in the Army, Mary settled in Southern Maine to raise her family. Despite her debilitating and painful arthritis, Mary enjoyed her life. She loved to take walks with her girls, knit and do crafts, watch musicals and movies, do crosswords and play scrabble, travel with her husband, visit with her grandchildren, and plan trips of with her family. After the death of her husband, Mary retired to the island and immersed herself in service to her community as a member of the Evergreen United Methodist Church, coordinating outreach to island residents, and serving as a volunteer at the church gift shop. Mary also proudly served as Postmaster for the United States Postal Service on the island.

Mary was predeceased by her beloved son David Michael, her parents, her husband Calvin Dyer, her grandson Shawn Michael, and two of her adored brothers William Watson Jr. and Richard Clarke Watson as well as her sister Judy Potter.

Mary is survived by her youngest brother Edward Watson and his family. Mary is also survived by her sister-in-law Mary “Muzzy” Watson with whom she has always felt a special kinship. Also surviving are her daughters Robin (Watson) Norcross and her husband Richard, Susan (Thompson) Morse and her husband Merrill (Bud), and Cheryl (Thompson) Engen. She was fortunate to have known and loved all 9 of her grandchildren who adored her as equally as she adored them: Melissa (Norcross) Brown, Eric Norcross, Ethan Norcross, Joshua Legere, Andrew Legere, Adam Legere, Kayla Morse, Erica Engen, and Travis Engen. Mary is also survived by her by great-grandchildren Madison and Benjamin Brown, Brady and Brooke Legere, Nevaeh Norcross, and Abigail and Elijah Morse. We feel so blessed to have shared our “Grammy” and “Nana” with so many generations of our family.

We wish to offer a sincere thank you to the Maine Veteran’s Home in Scarborough ME for their respectful and loving care of Mary during her last year of life. We will never forget her flag-draped march through the building and the honor you showed her life and service. We are also thankful to Compassus Hospice and Palliative for the caring, compassionate, and tender care shown to Mary during her last month.

We will remember her laugh, her energy, her stubborn independence, her favorite color blue, her love of angels and roses, and her evening tradition of popcorn and Pepsi while reclining in her chair. She was an influential and strong role model for the women in her life and played a part in molding her daughters and granddaughters into the strong, stubborn, loving women we are today. This morning we drink our tea in honor of our mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and great grandmother. We invite you to celebrate and remember her with us.

Funeral services will be on Sunday April 17th at 2pm at the North Deering Congregational Church at 1364 Washington Avenue in Portland, ME. A family burial service and military honors will be at 11am on Monday April 18th at Sebago Lake Village Cemetery on the corner of 114 and 35 in Standish, Maine. On-line condolences can be given to the family at www.jonesrichandhutchins.com.

Memorial donations in honor of Mary can be made to the Evergreen United Methodist Church in support of their Outreach Ministries at 10 Leavitt Street Long Island, Maine or the Arthritis Foundation at PO Box 96280 Washington DC 20077.