1913 – 2003

AUBURN – Mary Branch, 90, passed away Sept. 16, at Clover Health Care.

Born April 29, 1913, the daughter of Percival W. Chapman and Mildred P. Chapman in Norwich, Conn., she was a graduate of the Norwich Free Academy, Boston Children’s Hospital School of Nursing and the Boston University School of Education.

She worked as a staff nurse and a head nurse at NY Hospital and Infant’s Hospital in Boston. Mrs. Branch served as Assistant Director of Nurses at Children’s Hospital in Boston where she lectured 4th year Harvard medical students on “Infant Care”.

It was while working at Children’s Hospital that she met her future husband, Dr. Charles F. Branch. Mr. and Mrs. Branch married in 1948 and lived for a short time in Chicago before moving permanently to Auburn, in 1950.

She became certified by the University of Maine in Psychological Testing, a service she provided for the Auburn Elementary schools for 10 years. Point Breeze, Conn., was the location of her ancestral summer cottage where she enjoyed many summers with extended family and friends.

Mrs. Branch was a member of the High Street Congregational Church, the Auburn Art Club, the Quintas Wednesday Morning Club, the YWCA and the Women’s Hospital Association. Antique teapot and doll collecting were interests Mrs. Branch pursued. Dr. Branch passed away in 1979.

She is survived by her sons, Nicholas Branch of Raymond and Christopher Branch of Turner; grandchildren, Thomas, Amanda and Hannah Branch as well as her sisters, Marguerite Jacobson of Greenbank, Wash., and Cynthia Huard of Maui, Hawaii; and a brother, Charles Chapman of Vergennes, Vt.

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