AUBURN – Carmen Cleveland, 79, of 440 Minot Ave., formerly a resident of 494 Riverside Drive, Auburn, passed away on Thursday, Jan. 13, after a long illness with her loving family by her side.

She was born in Lewiston on Nov. 22, 1925, the daughter of Marie (St. Pierre) and Joseph P. Chabot.

She was raised in Lewiston and attended Lewiston High School. From high school, she went to work at Bath Iron Works helping to build Liberty ships during World War II.

After the war, she was married in Lewiston in 1946 to the late John “Grover” Cleveland who died in January 1977.

She worked in the she industry for many years as a sole layer and as a waitress at a local diner.

She lived in Ponce, Puerto Rico, for nearly three years with her family when her husband’s employment took him there. She learned to speak Spanish and much about the culture of Puerto Rico.

She later became a Certified Nurses Aid and worked for more than 25 years on the maternity ward at Central Maine Medical Center providing loving care to the newborns in the nursery before her retirement in 1987.

She was a devoted and loving mother to her children and her grandchildren. She loved to read, attending the flowers in her garden, and caring for her cats. She also enjoyed traveling with her sisters and playing cards with her family. She was devout Catholic and a member of St. Louis Parish.

Survivors include her daughter, Carole Brooks and her fiance, William Waite, of Milton; three sons, John J. Cleveland and his wife, Debora, of Auburn, Philip G. Cleveland of Boulder Creek, Calif., and David N. Cleveland and his wife, Michelle, of Durham; a sister, Cecile Brown of Scarborough; 10 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

She was predeceased by a daughter, Judy Scheel, in 1981; her mother in 1972; her father in 1976; her brother, Charles and his wife, Antoinine Chabot; her brother, Phillipe and his wife, Cecile Chabot; her sisters, Madeliene Fontaine, Germaine Ashley, and Sr. Emilienne Chabot.

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