Ethel Sylvia Straw

  General Notes:

Research of Ray and Mary Straw.

Marriage Record for Ethel M. Straw
Spouse: Edward J. Shepard
Date: 27 Sep 1941
B/G: BRIDE
Residence: Gorham
Officiant: Rev. H.E. Townsend
County and State: Cumberland Co. ME
Notes:
Source = Town Reports 1893-1944.


PORTLAND PRESS HERALD [obit]
Ethel S. Rowe, 87
BUXTON -- It is said that life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away. After nearly 88 years of a breathtaking life, Ethel S. Rowe, of Buxton, drew her last breath on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, surrounded by her children.
Ethel was born at home on Feb. 7, 1924, to Robert and Jennie (Deering) Straw in South Gorham. She was the youngest of their three children, and the only girl. She grew up on the farm with her two older brothers. In her early years, she would walk to the Elmwood School on Rt 114, with its 28 students. By middle school, she was taking the school bus to town. In letters to her family in 2010 and 2011, she recalled fondly this time of her life - the sledding in the winters, the wool bathing suit she had in the summer, the haying, the blueberry and strawberry picking, and the simple pleasures of life on a family farm. She always considered herself a country girl.
Ethel was a stay-at-home mom for her seven children, until her youngest, Rusty, started school. She then took the school bus with him each day, working in the school lunch program. Later, she went to work for Sylvania for many years, eventually retiring from the company. She did not stop working, however. In the years following her 'retirement,' she worked at many odd jobs, and volunteered for several local charities. She was not one to sit still, preferring always to stay busy.
In the 1970s, with all their children grown, Ethel and her husband, Norris, began raising show oxen. Each year, from summer to fall, they made their way to many of the state's agricultural fairs and won many a blue ribbon for their animals. Their colorful style caught the eye of the Megabucks people, and in the mid 1980s, they appeared in a few TV commercials for the new lottery game. From then on, they became known around the state as 'the Megabucks couple.' It garnered them much local fame and people always assumed they had won the lottery. Their riches came not in the form of money, however, but in a life rich with love and family.
In 1997, Ethel and her three daughters took the trip of a lifetime when they journeyed to Italy to visit one of her granddaughters. While there, the group visited the Vatican on Easter Sunday. Here was this country girl, at the Vatican in Rome - a breathtaking moment, indeed. They visited Venice, and even took the train to the Swiss Alps. In Lucerne, Ethel heard cow bells, and walked her daughters ragged all over the town, intent on locating the source of those bells. And locate them she did. The photo taken of her, resting in the pasture with the cows, is a family favorite.
Besides her parents, Ethel was predeceased by her beloved husband, Norris, who passed away on Aug. 15, 2005. Also preceding her in death were her brothers, Oakley Straw and Mahlon Straw; and her great-grandson, Orrin Fulton Blake. Surviving Ethel are her seven children, Robert L. Shepard, Linda C. Dahms, Dwight Shepard and his wife Gail, Amanda McConihe and her husband Norman, Peter Shepard and his wife Jan, Holly Rowe and her partner George Hanscomb, and Rusty Rowe and his partner Dolores Minor. Ethel leaves behind five sisters-in-law, Beatrice Straw, Mary Elwell, Merna McKenney, Carlene Ehrenborg and Dot Rowe. Gram is also survived by her 21 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-granddaughters.
We will all miss coming to Gram's home, grabbing a cookie from her ever-full jar, and getting sloppy-wet kisses from one of her many dogs she loved and cared for over the years. From her and Gramp both, we all learned to love animals, from the scrawniest stray kitten to the biggest oxen, and even a stray donkey in between.
Visiting hours are on Friday, Jan. 6, from 12 to 1 p.m., at Watson, Neal & York Funeral Home, 71 Maple St., Cornish, where a funeral service will immediately follow at 1 p.m.
Donations may be made
in Ethel's honor to:
The Harvest Hills Animal Shelter 1389 Bridgton Rd.
Fryeburg, Maine 04037
or the American Heart Association
51 U.S. Rt. 1
Scarborough, Maine 04074

Ethel married Norris W. Rowe, son of Leon Major Rowe and Carlene Owen, on 30 Jan 1952 in Buxton, Maine. (Norris W. Rowe was born on 19 Nov 1928 in Buxton, Maine, died on 15 Aug 2005 in Maine Veteran's Home in Scarborough, Maine and was buried in Meeting House Hill Cemetery, in Hollis, Maine.)

  Marriage Notes:

ME index of marriages

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