Josephine M. Pruell
1922 – 2009
LISBON — Josephine M. Pruell, 87, of Chamberlain Street, Brunswick, died Thursday, July 9, at her son’s home in Lisbon.
She was born in Topsham, March 16, 1922, a daughter of Andrew and Annie Hreko Tomko. As a young girl, she was fond of helping her father as he worked in the family garden.
After graduation from high school, she attended beautician school in Massachusetts. She earned money for school by working as a nanny. For many years, she ran a beauty salon from her home on Chamberlain Street.
She married John J. Pruell at St. Andrews Mission in Pejepscot in 1945.
She was a loving mother who would knit and sew, including making all the family’s clothes, to make ends meet. She was proud of her Slovak heritage and kept the heritage alive by cooking traditional dishes such as stuffed cabbage, potatoes and cabbage, and potato pancakes.
She enjoyed sewing, ten pin and candlepin bowling, golf, and playing the piano.
She was a communicant of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Brunswick and a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9459, Ladies Auxiliary, in Lisbon.
She is survived by two sons, Stan and his wife, Karin Pruell, of Lisbon and Norman Pruell of West Bowdoin; a daughter, Charlene and her husband, Dan Engstrom, of Superior, Wis.; a sister, Ann Norman of Florida; 12 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her husband in 1980; and three brothers, Andrew, Bernard and Frances.