Rowena Mary (Humphrey) Qualey

ROWENA MARY (HUMPHREY) QUALEY, BENEDICTA – Rowena Mary (Humphrey) Qualey, 89, passed away August 1, 2017 in Patten. She was born in Silver Ridge on September 22, 1927, to Fred and Marjorie (Hayes) Humphrey and was the first of five daughters.
After graduating from Sherman High School, she worked as a waitress in Southwest Harbor and as a nurse’s aide at Milliken Hospital in Island Falls. She married Albert Qualey on January 3, 1949 and moved to the Pond Road in Benedicta where she lived for the next 68 years. She and Albert raised their family while working together on their potato farm, where Rowena was the field boss. Even until her last year, having not been farming for decades, she watched the fields and worried about how the weather would affect the year’s harvest.
She was an active member of St. Benedict’s Parish and participated in the St. Benedict’s Sodality and the Daughters of Isabella. Rowena’s faith was central to her life as, through good times and bad, she prayed for her family as a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Rowena always took great pride in making a warm and comfortable home for her family, including making hundreds of apple pies. She loved being “Coke” to her husband, “Mom” to her children and “Gram” to her nine grandchildren and she was never happier than when she had her whole family gather at her home to celebrate any occasion.
She will be sadly missed by her son, Alec Qualey and his wife, Mona of Benedicta, her son, Patrick Qualey and his wife, Lynn of Rochester, NH, her daughter Dorothy Brooks of Island Falls; her grandchildren, Elizabeth, Joshua, Benjamin, Caleb, Lucas, Adam, Michael and Dustin; her great-grandchildren, Abigail, Sydney, Olivia, Josie, Grace, Mycah and Josephine; her sister, Deanna and her husband, Roger of Silver Ridge. She was predeceased by her parents, Fred and Marjorie; her husband, Al; her infant daughter Janet; her beloved son Michael; very recently, her grandson Martin and her sisters, Linnie, Roma and Joyce.
Her family would like to give a special thanks to the staff of the Mountain Heights Nursing Home for the excellent and loving care they gave Rowena in the last nine months of her life.
Friends called 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, August 4th at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church where a Mass of Christian Burial was held 1 p.m. with Father Bruce Siket celebrant. Interment was in the St. Benedicts cemetery. For an online memory book and to leave condolences please visit www.bowersfuneral.com