YARMOUTH – Marie Ellen Christensen, of Waterville, passed away on Oct. 21, at Brentwood Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

She was born on Aug. 2, 1933, in Rumford, the only child of Samuel W. and Veola M. (Smith) Low.

She graduated from Stephens High School in Rumford in 1951, LaSalle Junior College in Newton, Mass., in 1953, and Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Mass., in 1972.

She was a member of the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church in Waterville.

She stayed at home to raise her family until her youngest daughter was in first grade. Then, she went back to college to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher.

She was a first grade teacher in Stow, Mass., and Waterville. She later became a learning disabilities teacher working with children from first grade through high school.

She touched and changed many children’s lives in her career. She truly loved seeing the progress that the children would make.

She was a loving and caring mother and grandmother. She enjoyed being involved in and attending any activity that involved her children. She was a Brownie and Girl Scout leader for all her daughters.

She started a Girl Scout troop in Bellflower, Ill., when the family lived there so the girls could continue their advancement. She attended the sports events that the girls were involved in whether as a cheerleader or team member.

Later on, when the grandchildren were in school, she attended their sports events, plays, and band concerts, always encouraging and praising them.

She enjoyed going to camp on Worthley Pond in East Peru, sewing, singing in the choir, ballroom dancing, square dancing, going to Bluegrass festivals, listening to music, walking, and visiting with her shut-in neighbors.

Her parents predeceased her.

She is survived by her four daughters, Karen Rodrigue and her husband, Ron, of Oakland, Kristina West and her husband, Brent, of Yarmouth, Karolee Richardson of Kennebunk, and Kamma Christensen of Durham. She is also survived by her six grandchildren, Jason and Christopher Rodrigue, Jacob Merrill, Molly West, Sasha and Chiara Richardson, and her six nieces and their families in the Seattle, Wash., area. She is the former wife of Harold Christensen.

Her dear and special friend, square dance partner and Bluegrass festival enthusiast, Preston Mosher, and his family, will miss her.

The family would like to extend a sincere thanks to all those who gave their kind, devoted and heartwarming attention to Marie at the Woodlands and Evergreens in Waterville, and at Brentwood Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Yarmouth.

“Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends – but only one mother in the whole world.” – Kate Douglas Wiggin