PORTLAND — Marcia A. Hamlin, 81, of Rumford and Lovell, passed away at Maine Medical Center, June 15, after a courageous battle with a muscle disease.

Marcia was born in North Conway, N.H., Nov. 14, 1930, the middle child to life-long Lovell residents, Marcus and Esther (Allard) Stearns. A 1949 graduate of Fryeburg Academy, she spent summers in Lovell caddying for lady golfers at the Kezar Lake Country Club and working at the Conifer Resort. Marcia received her RN degree from the Faulkner Hospital School of Nursing in Boston in 1952.

After graduation, she stayed at the hospital, working as charge nurse, until her marriage to South Waterford resident and World War II veteran, George Hamlin, in September 1953. They eventually made their home in Rumford, where they raised their family and where Marcia worked at the hospital.

Marcia and George loved dancing and spent almost every night in the 1980s and 1990s at square, round, line, clogging or contra dances. Their passion for square dancing took them across the country and around the world as they enjoyed many square dancing conventions.

Marcia was a wonderful caregiver, community volunteer and craftswoman. An avid knitter and rug braider, each Christmas her handmade gifts were anxiously anticipated by many relatives, especially grandchildren and great-nieces and nephews who swore by her mittens, hats and socks. A hand-knit sweater or afghan welcomed each newborn member of her extensive family. Her braided rugs, sweaters and afghans won many blue ribbons at the Fryeburg Fair.

Although she was a frequent traveler, visiting Alaska, Hawaii, most of this country, Canada, Sweden, Austria, the Caribbean and Mexico, her favorite spot was the family camp on Kezar Lake. Her husband, George predeceased her in 2004.

She leaves behind older sister, Marquerite Kimball of Millinocket; younger brother, Albert Stearns and wife, Jacky, of Lovell; three children, Paula and husband, Michael Prevost, of Bolton, Mass., Sue Hamlin and husband, Robert Mead, of Lovell and Mark and wife, Debi Hamlin, of West Peru; two grandsons, David Mead of Tucson, Ariz., and Stephen Mead and fiancee, Jenn Frazier, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; sister-in-law, Nancy (Hamlin-Coccia) and husband, Ed Hunter, of Port Saint Lucie, Fla.; sister-in-law, Pearl Hamlin of Milford, N.H.; and many nieces and nephews.

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