RUMFORD – Mary E. Delano, 86, died Thursday, May 29, at the Rumford Community Home. She was a resident of the Ridge Road in Peru.

Born in Mexico on Dec. 20, 1921, she was a daughter of Seaward and Emma (McRae) MacDonald. She graduated from Mexico High School in 1939, where she received her letter in music. Prior to her marriage, she was a sales clerk at Woolworth and J.J. Newberry’s in Rumford, and also was a waitress for summer camps such as Snow Falls, Indian Rock Camps in Hanover and Ocean Park on the coast of Maine until her marriage in 1949.

She attended the Dixfield Church of the Nazarene, and was formerly a member of the Mexico Baptist Church and the Peru Baptist Church. She was a life member of the Peru Historical Society. She was also a former member of the West Peru Grange and a member of the West Peru Extension Club. She was a member of the American Legion Post 199, Auxiliary, Peru.

Mary liked her trips every summer to Boothbay Harbor. She enjoyed company and always had a cup of tea for them with her great yeast rolls, homemade pies and molasses cookies. She enjoyed looking at her flower gardens and watching her birds and could identify every one of them. She loved and enjoyed her grandchildren, traveling in Maine and across the country to visit them and attend family reunions.

During the past dozen years, she suffered broken bones due to osteoporosis and other serious illness, but never complained. She loved the Creator and his son Jesus. She was on her knees with her Bible each night before going to bed, and prayed faithfully for her family.

She was married in Mexico on Aug. 16, 1949, to Clinton Thomas Delano of Peru, who survives her.

Other survivors include a daughter, Naomi Naylor and her husband, Ernest, of Quaker Town, Pa.; two sons, Lance Delano of Peru, and Andrew Delano of Lewiston; and two grandchildren, April Johnson of Seattle, Wa., and Steven Johnson of Quaker Town, Pa.

She was predeceased by her parents; a brother, Stanley McRae in 1963; and her son-in-law, Steve Johnson, in 1984.

The family would like to express their sincere thanks to the staff at the Rumford Community Home and to Tammy Bean and the hospice workers for their excellent care of Mary during her stay there. Also, a special thanks to David Saphier for saving Mary’s life more than 10 years ago. It was an extra 10 years we will always cherish.