ANDOVER – Violet Peters Swain, 88, died on Dec. 26, at her home in East Andover, with her family by her side.

She was born Dec. 17, 1918, in Waterville, the daughter of Margurite Young and John Peters.

She graduated from Lawrence High School in Fairfield in 1935, and from Farmington Normal School in 1938. She taught school in Winslow and East Andover, and in Warwick, R.I., where she received recognition for her work with the USO. While in East Andover, she walked daily past the Swain farm on her way to school catching the eye of Robert Swain.

On July 25, 1945, she married Lt. Robert B. Swain at the First Baptist Church in Fairfield. They moved into the house in East Andover, where Lt. Swain had lived from the age of 2, and where the couple would raise their own family.

She was soon busy with three sons whom she proudly supported through her attendance at various sports events in which they participated.

She was involved in a variety of church activities throughout her life. She was a charter member of the East Andover Home and Garden Club, now the East Andover Community Club; serving in all offices at various times until her death.

Before the town joined SAD 44, she served on the Andover School Board. She also did substitute work. She was an honorary member of the Andover High School Alumni Association and recently served as its vice president.

She was secretary-treasurer of R.J. Swain Dowel Co., in East Andover, which was owned by her husband.

For many years she was chairperson of the Andover Booth at the Rumford Community Hospital Fair, which sold cider and donuts. In addition, she served as March of Dimes campaign chairperson for Andover every January and received a plaque for her many years of service.

During the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, she was a correspondent for the Rumford Falls Times, the Lewiston Daily Sun and the Bethel Citizen.

She met with success several times, when she served as a manager of queen candidates for the Pineland Ski Club winter carnival.

She was chairperson of a committee that placed a third memorial rock and plaque on the Andover Common to honor the men and women from Andover who served in the U.S. Armed Forces from 1953 to 1971, a total of 91 names.

She was a member of the International 1918 Club, whose membership consists of persons born that year. For more than 15 years, she served as the state president and filled other chairs during her membership. She edited the club’s Maine newsletter for nine years and was a reporter for the international newsletter.

She loved her flower gardens, winning ribbons for hers from local contests. She made pickles and applesauce, which she generously gave to friends and family.

She was proud of the fact that her hair retained its natural dark color all of her life, a trait she said was passed on to her through her Greek-born father who had black hair when he died at age 91.

She is survived by her loving and caring husband, Robert, to whom she was married for 61 years; their sons, Robert J. II, and his wife, Katherine, of Lexington, K.y., Rodney L. of Jericho, Vt. and Ross B., and his companion, Christine Greenleaf, of Roxbury Pond; six grandchildren, Gregory, Matthew and Jennifer of Burlington, Vt., Courtney of Wichita, Kan., Lucie, of Lexington, Ky. and Hannah, and her husband, Nathan Noble, of Beaumont, Calif.; three great-grandchildren, Hope, Nathaniel and Benjamin Noble of Beaumont, Calif.; two daughters-in-heart, Elizabeth Breidenbach of Farmington and Kim Swain of Burlington, Vt.; two cousins and a sister-in-law and their families.