1924 – 2014
LEWISTON—Constance P. Webster died Wednesday, July 2, in the wonderful care of Androscoggin Hospice, surrounded by the love of her sons, John of Portland, Bob of Silver Springs, Md., and Bill and daughter-in-law, Molly of Lewiston. She had previously been in the excellent care of Montello Manor, and was smiling until the end. She will now be reunited with her husband, Web, who died in 2004 after 58 years of marriage.
She was born in Augusta on Feb. 8, 1924, daughter of Everett and Elizabeth Perkins. She graduated from Cony High School as valedictorian of her class. She marched at graduation with her boyfriend, future husband and class salutatorian at her side, and her father, Principal Perkins, presented her with her diploma. How perfect was that?
Connie went on to attend the University of Vermont and left after two years to support the war effort by working in a defense factory, much to the chagrin of her parents. Later, she graduated from Fisher College Business School in Boston.
High school sweethearts Connie and William T. Webster (Web) married on June 29, 1946, after Web returned from the war. While Web was an undergraduate at Bowdoin, she worked as secretary to the athletic director. Upon graduation, they moved first to Augusta and then Hallowell, raising three sons and being active at the Old South Congregational Church.
Connie directed the Open Door Program at St. Mark’s Church for several years and worked in the Maine Legislature, first as committee assistant to the Election Laws and Education Committees and later serving as the Senate stenographer.
Connie and Web moved to Portland in 1983. She was active in Habitat for Humanity, a volunteer for Project Feed and a long-term member of Woodsfords Congregational Church, serving as a member of the diaconate and a lay minister.
She was an avid duplicate bridge player, and she and Web were one of the few married partnerships that played together for years without ever having a disagreement (well, almost). Connie became a Silver Life Master in 1998. Son, Bill and his mother continued to play bridge after Web’s death, and she even played some in Lewiston after moving in with Bill and Molly in 2012.
Connie was a happy person, quick with humor, and had a gift of leaving an afterglow with those who met her. Even as dementia took its toll, she still had a twinkle in her eye. Recently, she asked when she would see her beloved Web. Bill replied that they would see each other next in heaven. Her reply was, “If he made it!”
Almost every day, Connie would send a handwritten card or letter to a friend who was ill, a grandchild with a birthday or one of her beloved sisters.
Connie, the matriarch and last of her generation in the Perkins and Webster families, will be forever remembered.
She is survived by her three sons; six grandchildren, Eric, Caroline, Elizabeth, Abigail, Nicholas (Max) and Daniel, and daughters-in-law, Nora and Molly.
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