Mary Vonlue Ward McEwen

AUBURN: Mary Vonlue McEwen, 88, of Lisbon Falls passed away peacefully on Saturday Dec. 27, 2014 at Clover Health Care in Auburn with her family at her side. She was born in Washington, Indiana on August 1, 1926 a daughter of the late George and Mildred (Davis) Ward, Jr. She was a graduate of Glendale High School, class of 1944. After high school, she joined the Nurses Cadet Corp and graduated as an RN at Protestant Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, IN. Her last six months of training was at the Tacoma Indian Hospital in Tacoma, WA. She specialized in serving Indian patients that had TB. She was a head nurse and supervisor at Deaconess for a year. Relocating to Maine in 1956, she married her loving husband Bryce W. McEwen in Bowdoinham on Oct. 28 of that same year and they started a family together. Mary was an active member of the Court St. Baptist Church in Auburn for over 50 years serving as a teacher, on the Board of Missions, Deaconate Board, and others. However, her love of Missions was her favorite, filling requests of Missionary needs in the United States and overseas. She worked at both local hospitals doing private nursing and at the Lamp Nursing Home in Lisbon for 23 years until her retirement in 1988. She will always be remembered for her love and devotion to sending cards and letters to family and friends for all occasions for when she couldn’t be there in person, praying daily for family and friends and those in need. Unfortunately, declining health kept her from visiting folks in nursing homes, which she enjoyed. She also enjoyed her flowers, gardening, sewing, reading and watching birds. She will be deeply missed. Visiting Hours will be held on Friday Jan. 2 from 5-8pm at the funeral home.

Family and friends are invited to gather at Court St. Baptist Church on Saturday Jan. 3 from 10-11am followed by a Celebration of her Life at 11am also at the church. Interment will take place in the spring at Bayview Cemetery in Bowdoinham. Those wishing, in lieu of flowers, may make a charitable contribution in Mary’s memory to: Court St. Baptist Church 129 Court St. Auburn, ME 04210 or Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice 15 Strawberry Ave. Lewiston, ME 04240.