Candy

Candace Kavanagh Dwelley

Hermon

Candace Kavanagh Dwelley, 75, passed away at her home in Hermon, Maine after a courageous 33 year battle with metastatic breast cancer. She was born January 24, 1951 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, the daughter of Bernard M. Kavanagh and Janet (Lois) Cawley Kavanagh. Candy grew up at the Redclyffe in Robbinston, Maine. It was there she learned the hospitality industry from a young age and in her heart grew a special lifelong love for the people and town of Robbinston. She graduated from Calais Memorial High School, class of 1969. Candy then moved to the Bangor area where she worked for many years in various restaurants, including The Helm of years ago. In 1990 she moved to Modesto, California where she followed her passion for the culinary arts as a baker and pastry chef at Portofino Café, an Italian Bistro. She married her childhood sweetheart, Alan Dwelley, at Lake Tahoe, California on February 22, 1992.

In 2000 the couple moved back to Calais, Maine where Candy successfully owned and operated Greystone Bed and Breakfast until 2015 when she retired to Hermon, Maine. She had a passion for old houses and never met an old house she didn't like and wanted to restore. She had a special knack for hospitality that made every guest feel welcome in her home. Many guests walked into the Greystone as strangers and became lifelong friends. She loved summertime drives in her beloved "Min Min", her 2009 Mazda Miata, top down, brimmed hat on, casting her cares to the wind. Candy had a green thumb and during Maine summer she could be found tending her perennial garden amongst the many bees and butterflies it attracted. She loved to travel, see new places, meet new people, and she thoroughly enjoyed preparing holiday meals for friends and family. Christmas was her favorite holiday and one would find an abundance of Christmas decorations in her home, all carefully arranged according to her special touch.

She is survived by her husband, Alan, sister Elizabeth Cherry, sister-in-law and "adopted sister" Jane DelMonaco and husband Bill, stepdaughter Allyson Reichenau and husband Cody, granddaughters Isabelle and Addyson, nephew Anthony DelMonaco and wife Elise, great nephew Vincent and great niece Francesca, nephew Charles Ashton, "adopted" brother and friend Michael Lund, "adopted" son James Williams, numerous cousins, and numerous special friends. Candy was predeceased by her mother Lois Kavanagh, son Joshua Johnston, niece Janet Ashton, special father figure Melvin Gotha, fur babies Rocky, Charlotte, Riley, Boomer and Mist. Her sparkling blue eyes and infectious smile will be greatly missed by all who knew her, none more Alan.

A memorial service will be held 1 pm. Sunday, November 15, 2026 at Brookings Smith, 133 Center Street, Bangor. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments at the Family Reception Center of Brookings-Smith, 163 Center Street in Bangor following the service. Those wishing to remember Candy in a special way may contribute in her memory to the Lafayette Family Cancer Institute for Breast Cancer Research, 33 Whiting Hill Rd., Brewer, Maine 04412.

Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.