Anderson, Doreen F., 79, April 1, 2009.
Doreen F Anderson reached her final destination on April 1, 2009. She started the journey of life on April 23, 1929, on the Foxcroft Road in Houlton with her parents, Verna and Ira Farrell. It was a long, cold winter and she arrived early. She was so tiny that her parents didn’t name her for a few days. She wasn’t expected to live. Verna wrapped the unnamed infant in a blanket, placed her in a box, opened the wood-fired oven door and put her on the open oven door to keep her warm. She was the big “little” sister to Marilyn Wolffe and Laurel Farrell. From the moment her feet hit the ground, Doreen viewed life as an adventure with new opportunities around every corner.
At age ten, she was injured so severely in an accident that the doctors told her mother that Doreen would never be able to have children. Michael, her son, was a welcomed surprise. At fifteen, she discovered fast cars, a 1934 Ford Coupe complete with a rumble seat and a pickup motor. At 16, she earned her pilot license. At 18, she graduated from Houlton High school and took the train to Miami, Florida. No more dirt roads, potato fields, or snow for this girl. Two years later, she is back in Maine and her future husband, Kenneth Anderson, had also arrived back in Maine from a government sponsored cruise to the pacific on the destroyer USS Miles C Fox. Ken and Doreen married on November 7, 1949. He worked in his father’s grocery store on High Street. He and his brother, Robert purchased Anderson Bros grocery from their father and ran it for many years. Ken, Doreen, and Bob and Phyllis later bought the Western Auto store in Houlton. They ran the store for over 26 years, retiring in 1986.
Doreen enjoyed the journey of life, looking forward to new challenges. On a bet from her son, she swam across the lake just to prove that she could. At, 70, she challenged her son to ride a monster roller coaster. At the top, she extended her arms fully skyward and was screaming with joy. She could have fun doing simple things or appear elegant at a formal function. She gave back to the community by teaching Sunday school, taking the cub scouts bob sledding on the B road, and made countless ski trips to Mars Hill with a car load of teenagers. Doreen and Ken along with Ruth and Clifford Tingley rode their motorcycles across the United States. Upon retiring, Doreen and Ken sold their home, left Houlton, and lived in a motor home while traveling across the U.S. and Canada for five years prior to settling in Florida. Doreen enjoyed traveling, from Bar Harbor to Paris, Mount Katahdin to the Canadian Rockies; she has “been there and done that”.
Doreen touched the lives of many. To all of you who acquired your first bike or fishing pole from Doreen, she hopes you pass on her zest for life. As Doreen came sliding into home, she exclaimed “Wow, what a ride.”
