Obituary of Florence Ethel Eames

Florence E. Eames, 77, Waterville, died peacefully on Saturday, September 16, 2023, at Marshwood Center in Lewiston, Maine. She was born in Portland, Maine, on January 19, 1946, the daughter of Ora R. Eastman. and Ella I. Eastman.
 

Florence graduated from Waterville High School in 1964, and attended the Northern Conservatory of Music where she was a Music Education Major. She worked at the Mammoth Mart in Bangor as a service desk clerk and cashier while attending college and eventually became a bookkeeping secretary at the W.T. Grant Company, where she met her future husband, Chester Eames Jr., known as “Chet”.

Florence and Chet married in Brewer in 1972 and loved and cared for one another for 48 years until Chet passed in 2020. Florence worked as a Head Start Teacher in South Paris and as a Secretary/Receptionist for the Penquis Community Action Child Development Office in Bangor when they were first married. Florence and Chet moved to Greenville, South Carolina in 1978 where she first worked in the Emergency Room for the Greenville Hospital System in admissions and billing. Eventually, Florence and Chet owned and operated a laundromat called “Soap and Suds” while Chet studied theology at Bob Jones University to become an ordained minister. Their Christian faith remained strong and central throughout their lives. To be nearer to family, they moved back to Maine and settled in Waterville in 1984. Florence went to work for K-Mart in Waterville where she worked in the office and could often be found at the service desk until she retired.
 

Florence was pre-deceased by her husband, Chester Eames, Jr.; her parents, Ora and Ella Eastman, her in-laws, Chester and Clara Eames; her sister, Rose Micue, and husband, Theron Micue, Jr.; and her sister, Wilma Eastman. She is survived by her sister, Phyllis Corey, and her husband, George, of Sidney; and her sister, Roberta Brown, and her husband, Fremont, of Terryville, Connecticut. She is also survived by nieces, nephews, and cousins. Florence will be remembered by her family for her beautiful voice and musical talents, her love of family, and her Christian faith.
 

At Florence’s request, there will be no service. In Florence’s memory, donations may be made payable to “Amedisys Foundation” and sent to Beacon Hospice, 245 Center Street, Suite 10A, Auburn, ME 04210. The family would like to extend special thanks to the nurses at Marshwood Center and to the Beacon Hospice staff for the care and kindness shown to Florence Eames.