1920 – 2012

EAST MONMOUTH — Iva Willard Dearnley, 92, passed away peacefully, Oct. 16, at her home, surrounded by her family.

She was born on the family farm in East Monmouth on Oct. 9, 1920, to her parents, Leah (Crosby) and Max Willard. She was an East Monmouth resident her entire life, as she and her husband purchased a home there in 1950.

Iva attended Monmouth schools and graduated from Monmouth Academy at the age of 16. Following graduation, she attended Bliss Business School in Lewiston, where she met her future husband, Haskell “Hack” Dearnley.

Iva was employed in Augusta by the state of Maine Department of Education for 25 years. Upon retirement in 1976, she blossomed in a life that included the pursuit of new interests. These included tennis, which she enjoyed all year, playing and taking lessons in the winter at the Augusta Tennis Club, and cross-country skiing with her friend, Alice Fairchild, who was also a tennis partner. She developed a fine hand-quilting stitch and made many charming quilts for her family.

Iva was a lifelong reader, gardener and cook. She developed and maintained numerous flower gardens, often incorporating vegetables, flowers and herbs in a single bed long before it became popular. Her cooking was a pleasure to eat, and her family and friends were always happy to be at her table.

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She and Hack had an active, happy and productive life together for 69 years, raising three children, enjoying five grandchildren, family ski trips, swimming, and traveling with friends in the U.S., Canada and British Isles.

Iva was a member of the East Monmouth Methodist Church and the Ladies Auxiliary. She spent many years in service to the church and community, including delivering Meals on Wheels, and as an active member of Friends of Custom Public Library.

She was a woman of intelligence, warmth, humor and, above all, always young at heart. She was an extraordinary, ordinary person and her family was richly blessed by her presence in their lives.

She is survived by her husband, Hack; a daughter, Heidi Jackson and her husband, Winfield, of East Monmouth; granddaughter, Emily Jackson of Boston; a son, Merton and his wife, Delia, of East Monmouth; and grandsons, Benjamin of Bowdoinham and Nicholas of Charlestown, Mass.; a son, Fred and his partner, Stacey Hodges, of New Vineyard; grandson, Jonathan of Philadelphia; and granddaughter, Anna Dearnley of Hallowell.

Iva was predeceased by her parents, Max and Leah; and brother, Merton.

Her family would like to thank Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice for their help and support during her final days, the Pine Tree Home Health Care aides and especially Barbara McCabe of Monmouth for the care she provided.

Messages of condolence may be sent to the family at hackd@fairpoint.net or to their home in East Monmouth.


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