1918 – 2013

CASCO — On Sunday, Nov. 10, Martha Connell, 95, passed away at Country Village Assisted Living in Casco, after a long period of declining health.

Martha, daughter of Silas and Amy Nutting, was born in Otisfield in 1918. She grew up in Otisfield and South Paris, attending schools in South Paris. She was a 1941 graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois and a member of Chi Sigma Theta Sorority during her years at Wheaton.

After graduation, Martha became a teacher working primarily with first- and second-grade students. Early in her career, she taught in Milo and Bath, before moving to Massachusetts to teach in Belmont and Summerville. It was there she met William and they later married in 1951. In 1954, after having two sons, Martha and William moved to Otisfield to assist with the care of her parents. While living in Otisfield, Martha taught at many area schools, including Casco, Oxford and Otisfield.

She was an active member of the Spurrs Corner Church her entire life and taught Sunday school there for many years. Martha loved and was devoted to her entire family, as well as countless friends and former students who were remembered every birthday and Christmas.

Surviving are sons, Patrick and companion, Diane Diconzo, of Portland and Peter and wife, Karla, of Norway; grandchildren, Jared and companion, Maura Mikan, of South Boston, Mass., and Jodi and fiance, Clint Hoberg, of Austin, Texas; brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Maria Connell of Columbia, S.C.; nephew, Robert and wife, Madeline, of Gray; nieces, Nancy Coombs of Otisfield, Dorcus and husband, John Barlow, of Cherokee, Iowa, and Gail Dubov of Lawton, Okla.; and many special grandnieces and grandnephews.

Martha was predeceased by her husband, William; brothers, Albert Deane and Theodore Nutting; sisters, Charlotte Porter and Ruth Hacker; nephew, George Porter; and niece, Marjorie Porter; as well as special friends, Charlotte Robinson and Dorothy Lombard.

Special thanks to all of the staff at Country Village Assisted Living in Casco for their devotion to Martha’s care over the last few years of her life.