It was the 7th of February 2018 on a Wednesday, when our dear Nanny of Corinth, Maine passed peacefully in her sleep at the age of 97.

Melvina E. (Dancer) Thompson, was also known by the people closest to her as Nanny. She was born on November 1, 1920, in Hightstown, New Jersey, just 8 years after the sinking of the titanic and 2 years after the flu epidemic of 1918. The "roaring 20's," a time when people were leaving their farms and moving into the cities, the home refrigerator was invented, penicillin was discovered and "prohibition" was a thing. She was the oldest of six children who all pre deceased her, John, Lester, Odie, Sadie and Helen, to their father and mother, the late Charles H. Dancer and the late Sadie W. (Britton) Dancer.

She moved to Maine with her family in 1940, where she met and eventually married the late, Raymond V. Thompson on September 13, 1941. They were predeceased by their son Franklin, who died in his grandmother Dancer's arms at just a few days old. In ‘45 their daughter Edith was born. During their lives together they also lived in Florida and Connecticut. She lived to not only celebrate her own 50th wedding anniversary in ’91, but also to celebrate Edith’s 50th in 2013.

Nanny lived through and saw many things in her life, the Great Depression, 18 presidencies from Woodrow Wilson to Trump and the first black president, Barack Obama, the "fireside chats" with Franklin D Roosevelt, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, the civil rights movement, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, World War 2, the Korean, Vietnam, Desert Storm, 9/11 and the war in Iraq to name a few.

Though she became limited through the years by dementia, that never changed the heart of who she was. Nanny was like no other woman you would ever meet, a true, one-of-a-kind. She was very independent, quick-witted and very intelligent, strong and a joy to be around. She loved flowers and would always say “get me flowers while I am alive and can enjoy them.” Needless to say she always had flowers! She also loved to watch the birds at the bird feeders at her home. She always spoke her mind and put people in their place, if she felt the need. She was very competitive and loved to play games like dice, Canasta with her grand daughter Vanessa, who she use to accuse of having a crooked pencil, Yahtzee with her grand daughter Odie, who always seemed to score Yahtzee, Parcheesi with Donald Rideout, the first person in her life that frustrated her enough to say “bullshit,” UNO and especially, Skipbo, who she was ALWAYS the champion of! She didn't always lose very gracefully but always kept it fun. She had a great sense of humor and you never knew what she was going to say or do, having a knack for keeping people on their toes. She was very passionate about her beliefs and took her faith very seriously, baptized as a Jehovah‘s witness in the ‘70’s. She was a member of the Corinna Congregation. She used to go door-to-door and teach people about her faith. She was also a very hard worker, having various jobs throughout her life including, being a welder at Bath Iron Works during WWII, making bullet proof vests, a baker, a shoe stitcher and a caregiver. She enjoyed gardening, crocheting, making doilies for everyone, sewing, making dresses and skirts for her daughter’s and other family members, one being a skirt made for her niece, Charlotte, in just a day without a pattern, and sewing barbie doll clothing, baking and cooking. She made the best potato doughnuts. She loved making special things for the grandchildren, including biscuits for her great-grand daughter Cassie, homemade bread, old fashion plain cake with chocolate frosting for granddaughter, Odie on her wedding anniversary, applesauce for her grandson Nathan, strawberry shortcake every summer, and many kinds of delicious pies and pastries to name a few. Her cookie jar was always full of homemade cookies, especially for her great-grandson Christopher.

When she was 62, while living in Connecticut, she fostered a baby that was just 10 days old, Jessica, who she adopted in ‘86 and took her in as one of her own, and returned back to Maine. She used to love to bring that up and how people would call her "crazy" for adopting a baby at her age but she said it was the best decision she had ever made. Curious as to what her secret was to a long life her daughter Jessica asked her one day and she replied, "It was you." She loved spending time with Jessica and "her little girl," Bre. They were her world and reason she kept going.

She lived independently and in her own home until she was 96, thanks to her daughter Jessica and her home care workers, Patty, Megan, Monica, Maureen and many others throughout the years.

She moved in with her daughter Jessica in October 2016, where she kept her happy and healthy till the end. A special thank you to Torrey Courtemarche for his selflessness and compassion through everything. Also her great-grandson Ryan Horton for being there to help out when needed, even though she tried to beat him up with her walker. She was feisty!

Words can't really express the full extent of her tenacious character, nor how much she meant to every life she touched. Nanny touched and made a difference in so many lives. And even though she's gone, her memory will live on.

She is survived by two daughters, Edith and her husband, Ralph Robinson of Corinth, and Jessica and her daughter Breanna Thompson of Exeter, who is Nanny’s youngest granddaughter, the one she said that she was going to live to see her become a teenager and she came damn near close, only being a month and a week shy of her goal. Her other grandchildren and their spouses include, Odie and Larry Horton, Warren and Cindi Robinson of Connecticut, Melva and Darren Smith, Vanessa Robinson and Christopher Sweeney, Nathan and Lori Robinson of Idaho, and Josette and Robert Miller Sr. She had 18 great grandchildren and 11 great-great grandchildren.

A service will be held at a later date. Messages of condolence may be expressed at www.brookingssmith.com