Muriel H. Cushman, WB1BZE SK SK June 17, 2015 Muriel Henrietta Howe Cushman, 104 BATH - Muriel Henrietta Howe Cushman, 104, died on June 17, 2015, from coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure, at Hill House Assisted Living on Whiskeag Road in Bath. She was born on June 7, 1911, at Bath Memorial Hospital, Bath, the first child of John Milton Howe and Leona Oliver Dunning Howe. She was the second baby born there. Back then, babies were usually born at home. Muriel's home was the tip of Chopps Point in Woolwich, on the Kennebec River, at the entrance to Merrymeeting Bay. Muriel's grandmother Henrietta Granville Blair Howe (her namesake) was a midwife, but it was "modern" to have your baby in the hospital. Muriel's mother told of hearing her doctor say to the nurse, "Soak the ether to her!" as she was being prepared to deliver Muriel. Muriel spent her first four years at the new little house on Chopps Point. Her grandparents, George and Henrietta Howe, lived about 100 feet northeast in the old farmhouse. It was a happy, beautiful time, full of flowering meadows, and an extended family of Blairs, and Howe cousins from Uncle Wilbur's family nearby. Muriel often accompanied her father in his boat as he set and retrieved his weir nets, fishing for shad and sturgeon. The tides cause large sand bars to appear and disappear in Merrymeeting Bay. Muriel's father let her play on them as he worked – until Leona found out about it, and promptly ended that practice! "What if something happened to you, and the tide came in?" she demanded. In October 1915, Muriel and her parents moved to Bath. They wanted a shorter walk to school for her. Had they stayed at Chopps Point, it would have been five miles. Moving to Upper Washington Street paired that down to just one mile. Her first school was Washington Street Primary and Grammar School, just north of Park Street. Ellen "Nellie" Blair, first cousin to grandmother Henrietta, was the principal. Nellie lived across the street from the school, and told pupil Muriel, "If you turn out to be just half the woman your grandmother is, you'll do all right!" After Muriel completed Washington Grammar, school was further away. Her father gave her 10¢ for the trolley (which came as far north as Washington Grammar). However, she pocketed the money, and walked instead. She credited her long life to all this walking! The first year in Bath, they over-wintered at their home on the bank of the Kennebec River. The river froze over solid. Muriel said her father put on a pair of ice skates, and pushed her and her mother across the river on a sled, in order to visit relatives on the other side. After that, they decided to spend the "hard winter" on Union Street with Muriel's maternal Aunt Harriet Turner and her husband Frank, as the house on the river was not insulated. The routine became to pack up and move into town on "Armistice Day" (Nov. 11), and then to reverse the process and move back "Up Home" on Patriots Day (April 19). Auntie and Uncle did not have children. They doted on Muriel, who said they were like second parents. They were very close. The river played a big part in Muriel's early life. There were piano lessons with Mrs. Warren across the river in Day's Ferry, and also errands to Thwing's Store. Muriel loved to row, and welcomed any chance to row across the river to buy milk or eggs for her mother. There were dances and social events across the river at a facility called Tuessic Hall. Soon, Muriel's grandparents moved from Chopps Point to the village of Day's Ferry, directly across the river from Muriel's new home. One Thanksgiving, it was young Muriel's job to watch at the window to tell her mother when she saw her grandparents boarding their skiff for the trip across river – so that her mother could time the dinner just right. Muriel also told of seeing the steamer come down from Gardiner, bound for Boston, on a regular basis. Muriel and her mother often took the steamer to Westport Island to visit Cousin Mel Brooks, who lived at the southern tip of Westport, across from MacMahan Island. One of Muriel's fondest memories was of her father fulfilling her wish to have a ride in a horse-drawn buggy. Having made arrangements with a farmer in Woolwich, he took her across the river and the two of them had a wonderful afternoon ride together. Muriel was smart, talkative, and outgoing. Her mother used to say, "Muriel, you argue too much!" This trait was probably inherited from her grandmother Henrietta, who was described as being "peppy and outspoken." Muriel had her own ideas as to how things should be. One damp morning, her mother told her to wear her "rubbers" to school. However, Muriel thought them terribly dowdy. As soon as she got out of sight, she tucked them under the wooden sidewalk. She felt more stylish, but also worried what she would do if they had disappeared by the time school was out. Luckily, they were still there for the return trip home! Muriel's life changed quite dramatically when she was 14 and a half. An only child until then, she found herself sharing the spotlight with a new baby brother, John Franklin Howe. Now in the 9th grade, Muriel perhaps had even more freedom as her mother's and aunt's attentions turned to the very active and mischievous baby boy. Her childhood was a whirlwind, filled with a multitude of friends, activities, laughter and excitement. In March 1928 when Muriel was a Junior at Morse High School, her life underwent an upheaval with the burning and total loss of her school. There was a week's vacation for the students as the city scrambled to put together a plan. In Muriel's words, "then we reported to the Old Bath High School (where the fire department stands today on High Street) bringing with us the books we had taken home to study the weekend of the fire. In order to accommodate everyone, we were put on a half day schedule and continued that way until our graduation." One of Muriel's proudest achievements was to graduate high school, something her parents did not do, as they had to leave school to work to help support their birth families. Muriel did very well, taking the commercial course which gave her a good foundation for secretarial work. While many friends went to college, Muriel went to work in the blueprint room at Hyde Windlass. Later she became secretary to BIW VP Archibald Main. When her friends graduated, it was the height of the Depression, and jobs were scarce. Many could not find work. Muriel had an advantage because she had already proven herself on the job. Around this time, Muriel enjoyed many trips to popular regional attractions. Auntie and Uncle were able to afford a car, and they preferred that Muriel be the driver! There were many nice "free" trips to places like Quebec, Rangeley, and the White Mountains. On July 2, 1934, preparing for a "date", she was alarmed to hear her mother cry, "Muriel! Franklin is overboard!" Dropping everything, and dressed only in her slip, hose, and shoes, Muriel bolted downstairs, out of the house, and leaped into the river to save her brother Franklin, age 8, who had been swept away from the shore by the strong tide. The local paper reported, "The youngster, who could swim but a few strokes, had been caught by the current and was exhausted when his sister, an excellent swimmer, reached him and brought him ashore." Anyone who knows the Kennebec River knows what a brave act this was. In the late 1930s, Muriel met J. Paul Cushman. Paul came to work in Bath Iron Works' drafting room. They married in Bath on June 1, 1941, and had 64 years together before he died on Oct. 31, 2005, in Portland. Work took them to Quincy, Mass., Washington, D.C., back to Bath, Portland, and finally to Robie Street in Gorham, where Muriel lived from 1951 to 2009. Muriel was raised in the Beacon Street Methodist Church, but after her marriage she became an Episcopalian. While living in Arlington, Va., she enjoyed attending the Washington National Cathedral, and continued to support it years after leaving the area. She said that she liked the ceremony and pageantry of the Episcopalian worship service. On June 12, 1944, her only child, Thomas Howe Cushman was born, in Washington, D.C. Her greatest sadness was when he died from melanoma on August 9, 1985 in Cottage Grove, Ore. A housewife while Tom was in school, Muriel re-entered the business world in 1963, working for Honeywell, Aetna (both in Portland), and later, Dr. Fogg's (the optometrist) office in Gorham. For many years, she also did secretarial work for her husband, a self-employed realtor. She used to laugh about the fact that she always hated to cook, and would much rather clean or do yard work. In retirement, she and Paul loved going to Maine Mall for leisurely walks, errands, and lunch at Friendly's. They took their dogs Rusty and Johnny to the Saccarappa Dog Obedience Club in Westbrook, participated in evening art classes at Gorham High School (Muriel studied painting), and attended organ concerts at Portland City Hall where they met good friends Jean and Bill Bemis from Pennsylvania, who also shared their interest in ham radio. In 1980, after many months of study, Muriel passed the rigorous examination required to obtain a ham radio operator license. It took her three times to pass it, but she stuck with it until she succeeded. She was a member of the "Young Ladies Radio League" (women's ham radio), and she maintained her license (WB1BZE) for many years. She had the honor of being the oldest lady ham radio operator! Muriel liked to knit, and provided her Oregon family with many handmade sweaters over the years, much to their delight. Muriel had wonderful neighbors on Robie Street (Phil and Glenna Boothby, Larry and Ethel Wright, Vito and Amy Dentico), who kept a helpful eye on Muriel and Paul in later years, enabling Muriel to stay in her own home until age 98. Muriel always said her goal was to live longer than her great-grandmother Sarah Brooks Bailey, who used to be the oldest member of the family, reaching age 97. Two months after age 98, worsening vision required a move to Bath to live with niece Ellen and husband Glenn, on the banks of the Kennebec River – the same site to which she moved in 1915. She lived with them for 15 months before becoming completely blind and moving to Hill House. She kept her sunny, polite disposition and playful joking personality until the end. She was grateful for the care she received from Anne Marie Angers, HillHouse, and CHANS Hospice. Five weeks before she died, Muriel was asked, "What wisdom would you pass on to your great-great-grandchildren about what you have learned in this life?" She replied, "Oh, yes. Well, I think principally I've learned to live a good life. I mean by that, that you are kind to other people. And kindness is important in a person's life – not just the kindness you take in, but the kindness that you give out to people." Then Muriel was asked, "What advice would you give your great-great-grandchildren as they start their lives?" And she responded, "Well, there again, I go back to kindness. Be kind to other people. Give thought to other people." Muriel was predeceased by her brother J. Franklin Howe on May 31, 2003, and his wife Beverly Packard Howe on March 26, 2014. Muriel's survivors are her daughter-in-law Robin Bachtler Cushman (John Hazen) of Eugene, Ore.; two granddaughters: Cindi Ann Cushman McIntire (Dennis) of Junction City, Ore., and Sage Bachtler Cushman of Cardiff, Wales, U.K.; three great-grandchildren Michelle Lynn McIntire Keresztyen (David) of Vancouver, Wash., Brittany Jean McIntire Glidewell (Nick), and Thomas Paul McIntire of Junction City, Ore.; six great-great-grandchildren Marissa Leigh, Gavin Mikael, Danika Noelle, and Liam Isaak Keresztyen of Vancouver, Wash., McKenzie Jean and Callan James Glidewell of Junction City, Ore.; two nieces Ellen Howe Ballou (Glenn), and Kimberly Howe Gardner (Delbert) of Bath. There will be a graveside service at Riverside Cemetery, Day's Ferry in Woolwich, on Tuesday, June 23, at 2 p.m. Afterwards, there will be a gathering of friends and family at her niece Ellen's home on Upper Washington Street in Bath. Arrangements are by Desmond Funeral Homes, Bath. For further information and condolences, please visit www.desmondfuneralhomes.com Published in Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram from June 19 to June 20, 2015 - See more at: http://obituaries.pressherald.com/o...-h-cushman&pid=175111610#sthash.T8AJMfG8.dpuf 73 K2HAT Lee Hatfield Jr
