Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

ROCKLAND - With a good book and diet soda with lots of ice by her side, Elizabeth J. Dechene passed away peacefully in her home on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016.

Elizabeth was born January 10 , 1956 in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, a descendent of the Ryan & McCurdy families. She grew up in Baileyville, Maine and attended local schools graduating third in her class. When young, she enjoyed cheerleading, swimming with her siblings, girl scouts and was a member of various clubs as well as president of her school’s National Honor Society.

Elizabeth could have done anything she chose to do, but her greatest achievement was as a mother to her three children. We didn’t always have a lot, but she was adept and passionate about caring and providing for her family.

Elizabeth was a devoted and spiritual woman who was very active in church activities. She loved to read, was a gifted writer and exceptional knitter, recently combining these joys by giving classes at the local library where she also volunteered in the book store. You could count yourself blessed if you had the grace of hearing her laugh. She taught us the beauty in a sunset and that there is almost nothing the sound of ocean waves and a Wasses hotdog can’t mend.

She was predeceased by her precious grandmother, Jeannette (Dechene) McCurdy and is survived by her daughter Erika (Speed) Young and her husband Tony, grandchildren Declan and Brycen of Bangor, Maine; her sons, Andrew Speed and his wife Lori of Gorham, Benjamin Speed and his wife Sarina, grandchildren Noah and Larkin of Franklin, and six siblings including sisters, Deborah of Rochester, New York and Marilyn of Woolwich.

A celebration of her life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 9, 2016 at the Rockland Crossroads Church of the Nazarene. Flowers, donations to the local Home Heating Program or acknowledgements can be sent to the church c/o Pastor Hazel Seavey at 52 Camden Street, Rockland, ME 04841.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland.