AUBURN – Jeanne Clifford Delahanty, formerly of Lewiston and Schooner Retirement Community in Auburn, passed away on March 24.

She was born in Lewiston, as the oldest child of John D. Clifford Jr., and Lucille E. Smith Clifford. She graduated from Lewiston High School in 1933, where she was a member of the undefeated girls basketball team that won the Bates College Invitational Tournament and was recognized as Maine State Champions. She was also a member of the Drama Club and the Jodhpur Riding Club.

In 1937, she graduated from Georgian Court College in Lakehurst, N.J. After her graduation from college she began a career in New York City’s fashion industry where she did modeling and worked as a buyer for Sak’s Fifth Avenue and then at Bergdorf Goodman. On Oct. 10, 1942, she married Thomas E. Delahanty of Lewiston, at St. Joseph’s Church with a wonderful reception at her grandparents home at 460 Main St., in Lewiston.

Following the wedding she returned to New York where her husband, Tom, continued his career as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 1945, they returned to Lewiston where he opened a law office and practiced until he was appointed to the Maine Superior Court in 1958. Prior to her husband becoming a judge she was active in Democratic politics and actively supported his candidacy for United States Congress in 1954. In 1953, she hosted a large gathering on 24 hours notice at her home on Delcliff Lane for former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, when she visited Lewiston.

She was a regular summer resident at Pine Point in Scarborough for 85 years. She proudly celebrated her 89th birthday on March 22. She was born, educated, married and raised her family in Lewiston where she was active in many community organizations.

She was surrounded by the law with the unique distinction of being the daughter of a United States District Court judge, the wife of a Maine Supreme Court Justice, mother of a Maine Superior Court Justice and godmother of a Maine Supreme Court Justice. She had a son, her brother, an uncle, three cousins, a nephew and four great nieces and nephews who have and are practicing law in Maine.

She will be remembered for her love and loyalty to family, great spirit of life and her desire to always be active. She was a devout Catholic and never retired for the night without a prayer for God’s protection of her children, grandchildren and great-granddaughter.

She was a longtime parishioner at St. Patrick’s Church and St. Jude’s in Pine Point. She served on the board of trustees for the Lewiston Public Library and was an active member and chairman of the Women’s Hospital Association for Central Maine General Hospital. She was an organizer of and participated as a dancer in several of the WHA “Red Stocking Revue” fund-raisers. She was active in organizing the annual charity ball fund-raiser for the hospital. She was also an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Lewiston-Auburn Art and Literary Guild.

When her sons were in school she was always active in student-parent organizations and assisted her husband when he served as chairman of the Bowdoin College Fathers’ Association. She was an avid sports fan and was happy that the Red Sox won a second World Series during her lifetime. On her last visit to Fenway Park at age 80 she was proud to have saved a foul ball between her feet at the bottom of a pile of souvenir hunters.

She strongly supported Lewiston High School sports teams and was always in attendance when her sons were playing. She followed their football careers in college at Bowdoin and St. Michael’s. Johnny Robinson, former Lewiston sports columnist, wrote about her, that on one busy weekend she watched Kevin play in Lewiston, John in Boston and Tom in Albany, N.Y. She was a committee member of the Auburn-Lewiston Sports Hall of Fame and was regularly seen selling membership cards at the entrance to the annual Lewiston vs. Edward Little football game.

Pine Point in Scarborough was always a special place for her. The family cottage has served as a gathering point since 1920 for all kinds of activities, including Clifford family reunions every five years with attendance in the hundreds. She always enjoyed gatherings of family and friends for games on the beach, cookouts and lobster dinners. In 1962 to 1963 she served as the first mother-host for a foreign student at Lewiston High School and has remained in contact with her “fourth son,” Wolfgang, and later visited him in Vienna, Austria.

She enjoyed two trips to Ireland and travel in England, Greece, Grand Caymen Island, a Caribbean cruise through the Panama Canal and most especially, annual Thanksgiving trips to visit family in New York City, her favorite place outside of Pine Point.

She is survived by her three sons and their wives, Thomas and Ruth of Falmouth, John and Brenda of Cape Elizabeth and Kevin and Denise of New York City; six grandchildren, Patrick Delahanty of Newton, Mass., Michael Delahanty and his wife, Sarah, of North Yarmouth, Benjamin Delahanty of Brighton, Mass., Sarah Jeanne Delahanty, Abigail Delahanty and Lucas Delahanty of Cape Elizabeth; and a great-granddaughter, Kiera Delahanty of North Yarmouth.

She was predeceased in 1956 by her parents; her husband of 42 years in 1985; and her brother, John D. Clifford III in 2000.

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