AUBURN – Millicent M. Sanborn Burke, 84, passed away quietly on Thursday, Feb. 7, after a long illness.

She was born April 6, 1923, in Bath, the first born and only daughter of Willie E. and Blanche H. Kingsbury Sanborn.

She was raised and educated in Gray. After her beloved father died, she moved to Portland to work for relatives. She married Joseph C. Burke and worked at the shipyard before starting a family. She returned to Gray 35 years ago to build on the land where she was raised. While she was working at Union Mutual, her mother became ill and she retired to care for her.

For 15 years, she was a school bus driver for SAD 15. She also drove a bus for Pineland Hospital during the summer and drove shortly for Cumberland before her illness.

Millie, as everyone called her, was a determined, resourceful, self-sufficient and hard-working woman. As a child, she picked gallons of blueberries and walked two miles to sell them for five cents a quart. She taught herself to sew and even made clothes for her family. On holidays, she sold hand-decorated candles, Yule logs, and sprays. In the fall, she sold apples and cider…all this and she still worked two regular jobs, sometimes three.

Everything she did was done to perfection and there wasn’t anything she couldn’t do – from making a fancy cake, redecorating an entire house, sewing wedding dresses and curtains, building screens, and to putting in foundations and building a garage. Her home was always immaculate both inside and out.

Millicent was a very intelligent person and because she never had the opportunity to advance her education, she inspired her family to do so.

She was a devoted mother and daughter, and instilled in her children a sense of pride, ambition and hard work.

She is survived by a brother, William and wife, Gloria Sanborn, of Cumberland; daughters, Janet Thorne of Gray, and Linda Small and husband, Harold, of Turner; and grandchildren, Craig Thorne and wife, Beth, of Standish, Michelle and husband, Mark Tucci, and Rae-Ann and husband, Shawn Griffin, both of Gray, Jennifer Small and companion, Justin Carver, of Minot, and Jessica Small of Turner. “Giggy” will also be missed by her great-grandchildren, Patrick Thorne, Julie Pelletier, Meghan Griffin and David Tucci; and many nieces, nephews and cousins who will miss her.

Thank you, Charlotte Frost, for being her best friend and ”sister” these past 84 years. She was blessed with numerous good neighbors, especially Ellen and George Parady and good friends.

She was predeceased by her parents; an infant son, Timothy; a brother, Kenneth Sanborn; and a half sister, Dorothy Pierce.

The family of Millicent wishes to thank both staffs of Odd Fellow’s and Rebekah’s Home of Maine (Auburn) and Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice of Lewiston for their compassion and care.