LEWISTON – Susie Frances Rowe died Tuesday, Nov. 29, at d’Youville Pavilion in Lewiston, where she had received loving care for nearly two years while suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Born June 16, 1920, in Minot Center, she was the daughter of the late Ralph H. and Jennie (Davis) Giddinge. She attended the one-room Noyes School in Minot. After graduating from Leavitt Institute in Turner in 1937, she worked at Swan’s Soda Shop in Auburn.

She married Eugene Rowe of West Minot on Dec. 4, 1940. They were married for 64 years, until his death in December 2004.

She enjoyed working with the public at various locations in Maine and Massachusetts. She worked summers for many years at Portland Packing Co. in West Minot. She was manager of the lunch counter at Kresge’s in Lewiston. After the family moved to Portland in 1955, she worked in the office at Lerner Dress Shop. After returning to the Lewiston-Auburn area in 1956, she worked for eight years at B. Peck Co. as a cashier in the office.

In 1965, she, her husband and son moved to the Boston area, where she worked as an inspector for Stevens Arnold, in the office at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, and as a salesperson for the Fannie Farmer Candy Store. In 1980, she came back to Minot to care for her mother.

Mr. and Mrs. Rowe lived in Oxford for 17 years before moving to Heritage Court in Auburn in 2001. She had been a resident of d’Youville Pavilion since 2004.

Her hobbies were reading, especially poetry, crocheting and gardening, and taking pictures of her family and friends. She will always be remembered for her friendly smile and sense of humor.

She is survived by three daughters, Beverly Spofford of Hebron; Frances and her husband, Paul Lodge, of West Minot; Sally and her husband, John F. Joy, of Augusta; and son, Theodore Rowe and his wife, Jackie Chan, of Quincy, Mass.; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren; and a niece, Audrey (Giddinge) Sharpe of Lakeland, Fla.

She was predeceased by her husband in 2004, and her brother, Harold Giddinge of Lakeland, Fla., in 2003.

The family would like to thank all of the caregivers and nurses at d’Youville for their tender care and kindness given to Mrs. Rowe.

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