Madelyn Agnes Thoits

Madelyn Agnes Thoits was born on May 22, 1933 to the late George Leonard and Prudence Leavitt Roberts of East Harpswell, Maine. At birth she was adopted by Mary Clark Coffin and Mr. Coffin of Portland. After being injured in a bicycle accident as a young child and not being properly cared for by the alcoholic Mr. Coffin, her mother divorced him. She later married Leon Harris, who, although never legally adopted Madelyn, raised her as his own and was considered to be her father.

Madelyn grew up in Stroudwater Village in Portland. She went to the one room school house,Willard School, Nathan Clifford Elementary School and Lincoln Junior High School. She was a member of Stroudwater Baptist Church, sang in the choir and had many life-long friends from that area, two of which were Carolyn Rumery and Lois Rummery Morse. She graduated from Deering High School and Gray Business School. In June of 1954 she married Harold Thoits at Stroudwater Baptist Church and they resided on Read Street in Portland. In December of 1956, they adopted a daughter that they named Pamela at the Osteopathic Hospital from the McKeen family.

During her life, Madelyn worked as a Pre-School teacher, a librarian at Baxter School, a seamstress at Pratt Abbot, and in the kitchens of Holiday Inn, the Osteopathic Hospital, and St. Joseph's Manor. But mostly she was a homemaker, wife and mother, taking her daughter to dancing school, rainbow girls, ice skating lessons, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, was a Campfire leader and hosted many birthday parties. She spent many summers in the backyard by the pool, serving kool-aid and popcorn to the neighborhood kids. She was a member of Immanuel Baptist Church and she, her husband and daughter were baptized together there. She enjoyed vacations with her sister-in-law, Dorothy and brother-in-law, John Meyer and their sons, Gary and Glenn, traveling all over Maine, eating lobster and chowder. Later in life, she was able to find and reunite with some of her birth siblings. She had an especially good relationship with her brother, Perley Roberts.

After the Death of her husband in December of 1996, Madelyn's daughter and granddaughter, Jessica Konkel, came to live with her. She loved to dress up for halloween with her granddaughter and pass out candy. Other thing she enjoyed were shopping, looking for bargains, putting up and seeing holiday decorations, packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, perusing catalogs and architectural magazines for current trends, looking for trinkets at gift shops, going to see the ocean, getting ice cream and talking with friends. She spent many hours on the phone with friends finding out what was going on and what was new.

In April 2021, Madelyn suffered a stroke, which left her with aphasia, and unable to communicate effectively. This was very hard on her as she loved to talk so much with people. After her time in the hospital and rehab, she went to live with her daughter Pam and her husband Bob Andrews. During this time she attended First Parish Congregational Church of Lebanon, where Bob is the pastor. She had the ladies of Abundant Blessings Homecare come during weekdays to spend time with her and chat, which she loved. She loved sitting on the back porch, feeling the breeze, smelling the flowers and listening to the birds. She loved her daughter's cat, Pixie and dog, Sophie. She called them her babies and loved to pet them. At first, Covid made it difficult for her to go to the places she loved and see the people she cared about. As the pandemic restrictions eased up, her daughter took her to fairs, stores, restaurants and car rides. She always wanted to go out and look around at things.

On July 3, 2022, Madelyn suffered what appeared to be another stroke. She was taken to Wentworth Douglas Hospital where she spent the remainder of her days. On July 21, 2022 at 9:00pm Madelyn went home to be with her Lord and Savior. God is merciful and now she feels no more suffering and pain. In addition to her parents, she was preceded by her husband, Harold Thoits. She leaves behind her daughter and son-in-law, Pamela and Rev. Robert Andrews of Lebanon, ME; her granddaughter, Jessica Konkel of Portland, ME: her grandson, Christopher Houston and wife Kimberly and great-granddaughter, Alyia of Eden Prairie, MN. She also leaves step grandchildren; Nathan Andrews and his wife, Emily and great-granddaughter, Piper and great-grandson, Peter David of Lewiston, ME; Lyzz Andrews of Pelham, NH; Zealia Cavalier and husband Michael and great-granddaughter, Uliana of Berwick, ME; and Peter Newcomb and wife Nikki and great-granddaughter, Kira Belle, of Houston, Texas.

Visiting hours will be held at Jones, Rich & Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodford Street, Portland, Maine on Thursday, July 28 from 4:00-6:00pm; Celebration of Life Service will be held at First Parish Congregational Church, 650 Center Road, Lebanon, Maine on Friday, July 29 at 10:00am with Reception following at the church; Graveside Committal Service will be held at Brooklawn Cemetery, 2002 Congress Street, Portland, Maine on Friday, July 29 at 1:30pm. All friends are welcome