Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

ROCKLAND - Lella Jane Dowling, 92, died peacefully, Saturday, January 30, 2016, at Hill House in Bath, following an extended period of declining health.
Born in Farmingdale, NY, January 26, 1924, she was the daughter of Alva N. and Myrtle MacCauley Ketcham. Educated in New York schools, she was a 1942 graduate of Huntington (NY) High School.
During her husband’s military career, she lived many places throughout the United States.
After settling in Rockland, she began employment at the former Knox County General Hospital in the Dietary Department. Upon the opening of the new Penobscot Bay Medical Center, she transferred with her department providing dietary services to that hospital. She worked at PBMC several years until retiring.
For many years, Lella was active in the National, State, and local Grange. She was a longtime member of the Pleasant Valley Grange, Achorn Grange, and the Limerock Valley Pomona Grange. She served as Lady Assistant for many meetings, served on the Installation Team for both the Subordinate and Pomona Granges, and served many years as Treasurer and Chaplain.
Devoted to her children and grandchildren, she enjoyed keeping abreast of all that was happening in their lives.
Other than her parents, Lella was pre-deceased by three brothers and one sister. She is survived by her son, Kevin J. Dowling and his wife Ellen Kyder of Washington, NC; daughter, Kathleen Staples and her husband John of Springfield, VA; one brother, Gerald A. Ketcham of Pineville, NC; six grandchildren, Jennifer Piacente and her husband Eric, John Staples and his wife Erin, Thomas Staples and his wife Patricia, Joshua Staples, Alizabeth Dowling, Anne Caiazzo and her husband Nick; seven great-grandchildren, Logan, Peri, Delaney, Aiden, Ben, Addison, and Avary, as well as several nieces and nephews.
A service will be announced in the summer.
Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock St., Rockland. To share a memory or condolence with Lella’s family, please visit her Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.