LEWISTON – Irene M. Pingree, 81, of Leavitt Street, Mexico, died early Wednesday, Dec. 27, at Central Maine Medical Center.

She was born on Feb. 19, 1925, in Rumford, the daughter of Arthur and Mary Louise Arsenault. She was married on Aug. 28, 1948, to her loving husband, Sherwood Pingree, until his death in January 2001.

She and Sherwood built their own home on Leavitt Street, where she still resided. When her first child was born, she became a wonderful homemaker and mom and remained in that very important career as two other children were born. She was a talent in many ways. She could sing and dance and loved to perform skits with her sisters. She was a great cook and taught every one of her children how to do so. She was a wonderful gardener and loved working in her flowers and growing her own tomatoes and cucumbers.

She was a listener, a giver of good advice and a tremendous support to her family at all times. She loved her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with all her heart and every one of them knew it, including the two girls that lived up the street, Kelly and Chris, who she was a second mom to. Her best friend was her dog, Mitch. She was a mom, friend and neighbor who will be greatly missed by all.

She is survived by her three children, Sandra Cushman, and her husband, Scooter, of Wilton, Debbie Pelletier, and her husband, Norm, of Naples, Fla. and Tim Pingree, and his companion, Laura Bellegarde, of Mexico; five grandchildren, Melissa and Nicole Cushman, Erin Thompson and Matt and Nick Pingree; two great-grandchildren, Tucker and Oaklee Carleton; a sister, Jeannette DeRoehn; sister-in-law, Evelyn Canwell; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Evangeline and Eddy Mathieu; and several nieces and nephews, all very special to her.

She was predeceased by her husband, Sherwood; her sisters, Rita MacDonald, Ruth Arsenault and Mae LaPerle; and a brother, Nelson Arsenault.