SOUTH PARIS – Eleanor Burdin, 83, of South Paris, died Saturday, March 31, at the Maine Veterans Home in South Paris.

Born Eleanor Louise Bowles, Jan. 21, 1924, in Livermore, the daughter of John and Sophie Bowles, she graduated from Livermore Falls High School.

In 1944 she enlisted in the Marine Corps to serve for two years during World War II. During her enlistment she worked as an airplane mechanic. She met her first husband in California, Clayton H. Ring, who served in the Marine Corps for almost 30 years. Clayton was from Bryant Pond. For many years they moved from base to base until he retired and they returned to Maine. They had two daughters, Cynthia, born in North Carolina, and Constance, born in California.

She worked several civil service jobs on different bases. After returning to Maine she worked for the U.S. Postal Service as the postmaster in North Turner, and then the postmaster in Turner, until she retired in 1985. During her years as a postmaster, she was very active in the National Association of Postmasters of the United States. She held several officer positions including state president and editor of the state chapter’s newsletter. She also served on the national level and spent years traveling to national conventions with her husband, until his death in 1983.

After retiring from the Postal Service, she started spending her winters in Florida near her brother and bought a place in Pinellas Park. In 1996 she married Thomas Burdin. They made their home in Florida and came back to Maine to spend their summers at Bear Pond in Hartford, where they spent many hours on their pontoon boat.

She was a beautiful seamstress and made many of her family’s clothes as her daughters were growing up. She loved playing cards and was active in several bridge groups during her life. She and her husband, Clayton, also loved to dance and spent many years as members of square dance clubs, while living down South.

She is survived by husband, Thomas Burdin of South Paris; sister, Arlene Tislow and husband, Bob, of Moses Lake, Wash.; daughter, Connie Shaw and her husband, Paul, of Hartford; and their children, Scott Varney and wife, Kari-Jo, of Turner, Adam Varney and wife, Nicole, and their son, Taylor, of Greene, Eben Shaw and wife, Susan, and their sons, Oren and Blaine, of Turner, Jaime MacCaffray and husband, Andrew, of St. George; grandson, Joshua Parkin of Tampa, Fla.; and two stepsons and their families.

She was predeceased by husband, Clayton H. Ring; daughter, Cynthia Parkin; brothers, Lowell Bowles, Emerson Bowles and Clifton “Kip” Bowles; and sisters, Hilda Hannon and Margaret Bunten.