Obituary for Alice Marian Larrabee
Alice Marian True Larkin Larrabee, 93, of Boothbay, Maine, died on July 24, 2019 at her home in Boothbay. Born September 5, 1925 in Skowhegan, Maine, she was the daughter of Elise (Martindale) and Edwin Roy True, the youngest of five girls. She graduated from Skowhegan High School in 1942 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and enrolled as a WOW (Women Ordnance Workers) at the National Youth Administration (NYA) school in Quoddy Village, Maine, where she studied Radio. Her course was interrupted when she contracted spinal meningitis, which left her with one deaf ear. After a long convalescence, she completed a war-training course in radio at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Radiation Laboratory and worked as a technician, building radar and Loran for the war effort. During that time she lived at the YWCA in Boston. After the war, she worked in West Somerville, Mass., repairing electronic meters and test equipment, and at various other jobs in the Boston area: as an operating room aide, spraying paint in a ping pong factory and packing tea in Salada Tea Company. Alice was on the Board of Directors of the Wells Memorial Institute, a settlement house in Boston’s South End, and was an active member of the Wells Camera Club. She also served as a volunteer, feeding infants at Boston Floating Hospital.
She married Paul Arthur Larkin in Boston in 1949, and they moved to Bridgeport, Conn. Where their six children were born. In 1959 the family moved to Oakland, Maine. Alice was a founding member of the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program in Waterville, Maine and served as an Outreach worker for that anti-poverty program. In Oakland, she established a Clothing Exchange program in the schools to provide clothing, shoes and boots for needy children and was a Brownie Scout leader and president of the of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA). She served on the Board of Directors of the Maine Conference of Human Services in Waterville.
In 1968, the family moved to Boothbay Harbor, where she worked as a medical records transcriptionist, with a part-time business renting baby furniture. Alice was a founding member of the Lincoln County Group Home. In Boothbay Harbor she established a community drug education program and was a member of the Boothbay Historical Society and the Boothbay Civic Association. She was a reporter for the Boothbay Register, with a weekly column about Charlie, a pet crow she had raised from a fledgling. Charlie was well known around town and got into all kinds of mischief which provided her with pleanty of material for her column.
Alice said she had been a writer for as long as she could remember and still had the first short story she wrote in third or fourth grade. She wrote extensively for Down East Magazine. A number of her short stories and articles were published in, the Berkshire Eagle, Country Journal and other literary magazines. She was the author of a local history, a children’s book, “Zachary Goes Groundfishing”, and a collection of her weekly columns.
She was an investigative reporter for the Maine Times and as a contributing editor for the Commercial Fisheries News, she got to go out on lobster boats and draggers, which were her special love. With her daughter, Julia, she was an enthusiast of white-water rafting. In a doctor/patient routine, she and Lynn Orne, performed as clowns in local parades and she was notorious for her Halloween costumes. Alice was a dedicated gardener and bird watcher. As long as she was able she worked out and swam regularly at the YMCA.
In 1996, she married her childhood sweetheart, Harold Larrabee. They moved to Boothbay, just in back of the neighbors “pig” mailbox. Alice volunteered to dress Miss Pig and did so for 12 years, creating costumes which reflected the holidays or seasons. Harold died in 2005
Survivors include two sons, Edrick J. Larkin, Sr. and his wife, Carol, of Southport, Shawn Larkin and his wife, Janice, of Madison. She is predeceased by daughters Julia Larkin Berry, Laura Field, June Larkin Wing, and a son, Paul T. Larkin. She is survived by 8 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the Hall Funeral Home, 975 Wiscasset Rd, Boothbay, ME on August 2, 2019 at 11 a.m., followed by reception at Halls
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Midcoast Humane, 190 Pleasant St., Brunswick, ME. 04011
She married Paul Arthur Larkin in Boston in 1949, and they moved to Bridgeport, Conn. Where their six children were born. In 1959 the family moved to Oakland, Maine. Alice was a founding member of the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program in Waterville, Maine and served as an Outreach worker for that anti-poverty program. In Oakland, she established a Clothing Exchange program in the schools to provide clothing, shoes and boots for needy children and was a Brownie Scout leader and president of the of the Parent Teachers Association (PTA). She served on the Board of Directors of the Maine Conference of Human Services in Waterville.
In 1968, the family moved to Boothbay Harbor, where she worked as a medical records transcriptionist, with a part-time business renting baby furniture. Alice was a founding member of the Lincoln County Group Home. In Boothbay Harbor she established a community drug education program and was a member of the Boothbay Historical Society and the Boothbay Civic Association. She was a reporter for the Boothbay Register, with a weekly column about Charlie, a pet crow she had raised from a fledgling. Charlie was well known around town and got into all kinds of mischief which provided her with pleanty of material for her column.
Alice said she had been a writer for as long as she could remember and still had the first short story she wrote in third or fourth grade. She wrote extensively for Down East Magazine. A number of her short stories and articles were published in, the Berkshire Eagle, Country Journal and other literary magazines. She was the author of a local history, a children’s book, “Zachary Goes Groundfishing”, and a collection of her weekly columns.
She was an investigative reporter for the Maine Times and as a contributing editor for the Commercial Fisheries News, she got to go out on lobster boats and draggers, which were her special love. With her daughter, Julia, she was an enthusiast of white-water rafting. In a doctor/patient routine, she and Lynn Orne, performed as clowns in local parades and she was notorious for her Halloween costumes. Alice was a dedicated gardener and bird watcher. As long as she was able she worked out and swam regularly at the YMCA.
In 1996, she married her childhood sweetheart, Harold Larrabee. They moved to Boothbay, just in back of the neighbors “pig” mailbox. Alice volunteered to dress Miss Pig and did so for 12 years, creating costumes which reflected the holidays or seasons. Harold died in 2005
Survivors include two sons, Edrick J. Larkin, Sr. and his wife, Carol, of Southport, Shawn Larkin and his wife, Janice, of Madison. She is predeceased by daughters Julia Larkin Berry, Laura Field, June Larkin Wing, and a son, Paul T. Larkin. She is survived by 8 grandchildren and several great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at the Hall Funeral Home, 975 Wiscasset Rd, Boothbay, ME on August 2, 2019 at 11 a.m., followed by reception at Halls
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Midcoast Humane, 190 Pleasant St., Brunswick, ME. 04011