FARMINGTON – Helen I. Kemble, 80, of Farmington passed away on Thursday, July 21, at the Pinewood Terrace in Farmington.

She was born in Helsinki, Finland, on Dec. 27, 1924, the daughter of Bruno M. and Helen A. (Schobloch) Spies. She graduated from a private school as one of the top students of her class. Her further education was interrupted due to World War II when the family had to flee from her homeland. In Dresden, Germany, she entered the study of medicine. She later took up nursing and dentistry for short periods of time when renewed fleeing from war scenes necessitated another change of location to Lindau, Germany, at Lake Constance.

After the war ended, being fluent in several languages, she was employed by the U.S. Army in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, from 1945 to the end of 1947, when she married Maj. Mark Hanna and moved to Farmington. She and her husband ran the Western Auto Store in Farmington for several years.

After her husband, Mark, died, she ran the Western Auto Store by herself with great success for two or three years. It was her pride and joy to serve the people of Farmington.

She subsequently met and married Bruce Kemble Jr., of Farmington, and he joined her in the business until they both retired in 1974.

Her talents were extensive: she spoke five languages, and excelled in sports such as tennis, golf, swimming and skiing. She loved gardening, playing the piano, singing, reciting poetry, flower arranging, needlework, calligraphy, painting and was an avid reader. Everything she did was executed to perfection. She was generous and kind, disciplined and meticulous, and would seldom refuse to help anyone or any cause that benefited the town and St. Lukes Episcopal Church.

She had many, many dear friends in Farmington who loved and supported her through her struggles with Alzheimer’s, including the staff at Pinewood Terrace, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, Dr. Gerald Tinguely, the late Warren Bogardus, and her son, Roger Kemble and his wife, Cynthia, of Farmington.

Survivors also include two grandchildren, Jay Kemble and wife, Karen, of Bangor, and Shawn Sinskie of Washington State; four great-grandchildren, Peter, Anna, Shauna and Kolton; three sisters, Edith “Teddy” von Schulmann of Frankfurt, Germany, Vera “Maxie” Bentley of Ottawa, Canada, and Inge “Chickie” Rao of Wilmington, Vt.; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was predeceased by husbands, Mark Hanna and Bruce Kemble; and a stepdaughter, Carole Sinskie.

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