Marie G. (Grover) Brewer

Marie (Grover) Brewer passed away on August 31st after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. In her younger days, Marie was a formidable force and a woman of many talents. She was a genius in the art of quilt making but she could also knit, crochet, needlepoint, embroider, cross stitch, macramé, sew, and fix just about any mechanical object with her intuitive Yankee ingenuity and abundance of common sense.

Marie was born in 1936 to Dana and Florence (Allen) Grover of Topsham. Marie’s father Dana was a plumber and Marie would tell her children scary stories about trekking outside to a cold and dark outhouse as her home was just about the last in town to embrace indoor plumbing. Right around 1949 the entire Grover family-Dana, Florence, Marie and older brother Paul, temporarily relocated to Cuba when Dana was called upon to work at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Upon returning to Maine, Marie attended Brunswick High School but met Donald, her husband of 62 years, while attending Westbrook Junior College. Donald, a native of New Jersey and a student at Bowdoin College, was apparently so smitten with this Topsham farm girl that he rode his bicycle from the College to her home on the Old Augusta Road to bring her nine yellow long-stemmed roses, which, as Marie tells it, was all he could afford. The happy couple married in 1955 and promptly made Maine their forever home. They first lived in an apartment on Clark Street in Portland but with the arrival of children moved to Yarmouth then, years later, to Bangor. During their marriage Marie and Donald traveled to Europe several times and visited many international landmarks that most of us still have as bucket list items. Nearing their retirement years, they returned to Portland where they contentedly lived the next 25 years until Donald’s passing in 2018.

Marie wore many hats during her working life, she was a lab technician, census worker, legal secretary, consummate volunteer, and, for a short time, even sold Maine lobsters at the Bangor International Airport. Her favorite, and most cherished, occupation, however, was that as a mother, grandmother, and homemaker. Sometimes referred to as “Dr. Mom” by her kids, she could diagnose and prescribe a home remedy for just about any minor ailment and provide sound wisdom for just about any problem. She was a loving mother, good listener, sympathetic ear, and beautiful person.

Marie was pre-deceased by her husband, Donald, and her oldest son Glenn. Marie is survived by her daughter, Suzanne Ndure and husband Ousman of Westbrook, son Adam Brewer and wife Kassandra of Bangor, and daughter Barbara Brewer and husband Steven Chabot of Portland; several grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Marie's family wishes to thank the staff and residents of Springbrook Center in Westbrook and Compassus Hospice for their support and kindness. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association; let’s help the next generation end this disease.

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