My dear wife of 46 years, Elizabeth Anne “Betty” (Connor) Grant died Saturday, January 27th, 2018 with me at her side, from the effects of COPD and chronic lung infection which could not be controlled. She was 82 and this is her story. She was born in Bangor on August 31st, 1935 on the hottest day of the year and was the second of four children. The oldest was Robert (Bob) then Elizabeth (Betty) and then her sister Beverly and finally William (Bill). Her parents were Gordon Alden Connor and Mary Ellen (Higgins) Connor. Betty lived on Ohio St and was raised a Catholic attending St Mary’s School. Betty loved dancing and, at a young age, took tap dancing lessons from Josephine Shanley. For a number of years, she performed at the annual Saint Mary's Church Parish Reunion as a tap dancer. She would also put on shows in the backyard on Ohio Street, much to her parents’ and siblings’ delight. She transitioned to ball room dance and took dance lessons at the Polly Thomas School of Dance. Betty attended John Bapst High School and worked after school in order to have money to spend. One of the jobs she held was that of selling hats at the Star Store, a downtown woman’s store. She loved selling hats and almost always wore one. Another job was that of waitress at the New Atlantic Restaurant. She was a great waitress and taught her sister to do the same work. What a team. Betty switched from John Bapst to Bangor High and graduated from Bangor High School in 1953. She looked forward to class reunions often putting her dancing skills and talents to the test at them. One of her fondest memories was working at the Howard Johnson’s in Burlington, Vermont, where she lived temporarily with her beloved aunt, Alma Mourkas, and her cousin, Frank Sprague. Betty attended the U of M for a time but did not graduate. She ended up working for Dr William F Mouradian, a very well respected dentist in Bangor, for over thirty five years, first as a dental assistant and then as receptionist and office manager, until she was forced to retire due to her lung problems in 1994. She was a good office manager and when she left, Dr Mouradian had to hire two people to do the work that Betty had been doing. She met me, her husband, at a Valentine’s Day dance on February 12th, 1971 and we were married on Thanksgiving Day, November 25th, of that year. Betty loved traveling and while in her twenties, had traveled to Europe by herself to visit her sister and newborn niece in Spain in 1963. Her sister's husband was in the Air Force and stationed in Spain. Betty was self confident and figured she could travel the world by herself. After we were married, I tried to introduce her to the world of nature that she had not taken notice of previously. Betty found that she loved animals and the beauty of nature and enjoyed being outdoors. She still loved to dance and would go dancing at every opportunity. Another activity that I introduced her to was sailing. She did not have the interest in that activity that I had, but, being a loving wife, she almost always went with me to make sure that I was safe. We enjoyed many days of sailing out of Seal Harbor in the 1980’s. She loved seeing seals and porpoise. She wasn’t too keen on my twenty five foot sail boat and preferred boats in the six hundred foot category. We took three Caribbean cruises together and enjoyed every one of them. Especially, when it came to closing the on board night clubs at the end of an evening. The music and dancing were great and she loved it. Our first cruise, sixteen days, traversed the Panama Canal and wound up in Los Angeles where we met her sister and cousin, Sally Duncan, and went to Disneyland before heading home to Maine. Another activity that she enjoyed was exercise classes at the Bangor “Y”. Beginning in the 1980’s, Betty did high impact aerobics, step aerobics and recently Group Groove up until last October. She had many friends at the “Y” and was usually the oldest person in her classes. After her retirement, in 1994, Betty and I enjoyed going to Tucson, Arizona in March to visit her sister Beverly, who lives there. Betty loved the desert and the various plants and cactus. She especially like seeing roadrunners and jack rabbits. Betty caught a cold on one of our flights back to Bangor and that turned into Bronchitis and then into pneumonia and eventually into COPD with an infection that was resistant to all of the antibiotics that were given her.

Betty was predeceased by her parents, Gordon and Mary Connor and a brother, William D Connor and by many of her beloved aunts and uncles. Betty is survived by her husband, Freeland E Grant of Bangor, her sister, Beverly J Dubay and her husband Norman of Tucson, Arizona and Orono, Maine, her brother Robert S Connor and his wife Marilyn of Rockwell, North Carolina and an Aunt, Virginia Winchester of Bangor. She also has a great many nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews which she loved dearly and which played a major part in her life. Among them are Robbie Sue Connor of East Orland, Maine, Justin Connor and his son Justin Connor Jr of Pembrook, New Hampshire, Rhonda and Barbara Haskell of Blue Hill, Maine and their children Nicholas Haskell and Ella Rose Haskell, Gordon Brent Connor and his wife Lisa and their sons Aidyn & Liam of Bethesda, Maryland, Jennifer Dubay of Tucson, Arizona, Lisa Dubay of Highlands Ranch, Colorado and her daughter Madeleine Jane Dubay who Betty loved dearly, Norman Dubay Jr and his wife Daryl and their daughters Jetta of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Talia Carter of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Andrea Rebel , Dierdre McPherson and her husband Fuji and their children Chelsea and Tyler of Lacy, Washington and Stephanie Connor of Sherman, Texas. Thank you to all the doctors and staff of EMMC who attempted to help Betty solve her medical problems and who kept her comfortable and safe.

For family and friends who wish to pay their respects, may visit from 5-7:00 PM, Thursday, February 8, 2018, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center Street, Bangor. A funeral service will be announced in the spring with interment at Mt. Pleasant Catholic Cemetery, Bangor. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.