NORWAY – Anne Stevens Minster of Norway, Maine, formerly of West Newbury and Newburyport, Mass., died peacefully Saturday, July 18, 2020, at her home in the presence of her family. She was the wife of the late Pemberton F Minster Jr.

Anne was born August 11, 1926, in Camden, N.J., the eldest daughter of the late Edwin D. and Martha L. Stevens. She graduated from Lansdowne High School in Lansdowne, Pa. in 1944, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1948 with a degree in psychology.

She was a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She married “the love of my life”, Pemberton (Pem), one week after graduation, on June 19, 1948, while he was completing his post war studies at Rutgers University. They had an active life, moving frequently for Pem’s career, including homes in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and finally Maine, while raising a family of eight children and, at times, up to 33 sled dogs. Family was her focus.

For many summers, they took all of the kids and dogs to their summer home, Beech Hill Farm, an old farmhouse without running water near Meredith, N.H., where the kids played, worked their summer jobs, and the sled dogs were trained in preparation for the winter season of races across New England with New England Sled Dog Club.

Anne was raised in the Quaker tradition. She described herself, “I’m a liberal thinker, not a fanatic, but a believer in individual rights.” Anne and Pem were active in the civil rights movement, hosting/housing students from the Boston METCO program which brought inner city children to schools in the suburbs, and the Fresh Air program which brought children from Harlem for stays during the summer and eventually for the school year. Although they are long since graduated from the programs, she has remained in contact with the children/families we sponsored.

As times changed and kids grew up and grandchildren arrived, they held “Camp Nana and PopPop” at their place in Rangeley, Maine, hosting all the grandkids (no parents allowed) for a weeklong gathering. Again, times changed, kids grew and moved. For the last 18 years, after the passing of Pem, Anne hosted an all-generations, weeklong family gathering on Rangeley Lake, to foster and maintain connections in her growing, scattered family.

Incredibly, Anne found time to have a career when the kids left home. She worked as a math tutor in the elementary schools for five years and was secretary in the Volunteer Services Department at Anna Jacques Hospital, Newburyport, Mass., for six years prior to retiring to spend time with Pem. She volunteered to provide Alzheimer’s disease family support services for Maine Veterans Home, South Paris, Maine, having cared many years for her husband as he endured progressive dementia. A cause she supported, the Death with Dignity Act, was finally passed into law in Maine last year.

Anne was a member of the First Universalist Church of South Paris. She also enjoyed her Tuesday bridge games with her foursome and especially many years of aerobics classes and post exercise social gatherings with “the younger girls” in her class.

Anne and her family chose the services of Androscoggin Home Healthcare and Hospice this year to allow her to realize a long-held goal of dying in her own home, with her cat Molly. She was grateful for the loving care provided by her family and special caregivers, Kim and Berdina.

Survivors include three daughters, Martha Bicknell of Gorham, Maine, Ellen Benner and her husband Gene of Norway, Maine, Anne Boulier and her husband Gary of Port Charlotte, Fla.; four sons, twins, Kurt of Norway, Maine, and Karl and wife Michele of Livonia, N.Y., Doug and his wife Carrie Jelsma of Wenham, Mass., and Andrew and his wife Delsa of South Berwick, Maine.; 11 grandchildren: Derek Benner (Josh) of Alexandria, Va., Amy Benner Corona (Barry) of O’Fallon, Mo., Sarah Bicknell Toner (Jason) of Rome, Maine, Megan Bicknell Walsh (Luke) of Gorham, Maine, Curtis Minster (Brittany) of Livonia, N.Y., Eliza Minster of Philadelphia, Pa., James Taylor (Marai) of Prosper, Texas, Emily, Ethan, and Cameron Minster of Wenham, Mass., Kendra Minster of South Berwick, Maine; 15 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by her husband, Pemberton Minster Jr.; her sister, Martha Stevens; a son, Anthony Minster, and son-in-law, John Bicknell III.

A memorial service will not be held due to concerns regarding Covid-19. Instead, at a later date, there will be a family gathering where, as directed by Anne, we will “get together and be happy”.

For those at a loss for how to honor Anne, consider the following passage found in Anne’s folder of meaningful clippings, which is the final part of the essay, “To Remember Me…” by Robert N. Test, a pioneer in promoting organ and tissue donations:

“If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.

Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God.

If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.”

At this time there will be no services. Arrangements are under the care of Chandler Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 45 Main Street, South Paris. Online condolences may be shared with her family at http://www.chandlerfunerals.com

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to METCO, Inc.

P.O. Box 191240

Roxbury, MA 02119

or to

Stephens Memorial Hospital Annual Fund,

181 Main St.

Norway, ME 04268.

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