Alice Becky Rideout

PORTLAND — Alice "Becky" Rebecca Rideout, 87, passed away peacefully on April 15, 2013, in Portland after a brief illness.

She was born on Nov. 11, 1925, in Cumberland, to Thomas N. and Alice M. (Romans) Brown. Becky was the seventh of 10 children.

After graduating from Greely High School in 1943, she worked at Western Union.

On Sept. 11, 1948, she married her husband of 50 years, Arnold C. Rideout. Before starting her family, she worked at Standard Romper on Canco Road in Portland. Once the children arrived, she was a stay-at-home mom, selling Avon and working out of her home for James Bailey Co., which supplied the athletic uniforms for the local schools. She would cut out the numbers and letters and sew them on the uniforms and, when it was really busy with multiple orders, she enlisted the help of her children, who would take on part of the job by tracing the numbers, cutting them out and pinning them on for her.

In 1968, when the youngest of the four children was settled in school, she started working for the City of Portland as a baker for the school lunch program at Lyseth School. She continued working, in the Central Kitchen and finally at Deering High School, where she retired in June 2005, just before her 80th birthday.

She loved baking and on any given day you would see cookies or a pie on the kitchen counter cooling. At Christmas, everyone waited for Needhams, sugar cookies or chocolate-covered peanut butter balls. In the winter, she enjoyed snowmobiling and in the summer, camping at Sebago Lake. Her love and skill of sewing led numerous people to seek her out for alterations and repairs to many garments, as recently as January of this year.

Becky was predeceased by husband of 50 years, Arnold C. Rideout in 1999; a grandson in 2011; and five brothers, Harry, Maurice, Thomas, Ralph and John Brown.

She was a lifelong member of 53 years at Stevens Avenue Congregational Church, where her recipes were published each month in the church bulletin. When her husband became active in the Masons Becky became a member of the Deering Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star.

She is survived by her son, Gerald "Jerry" Rideout; three daughters, Terry J. of Greensboro, N.C., Carol L. Cabral of Lake City, Pa. and Susan L. Dodge of Raymond; seven grandchildren; a brother, Howard Brown of California; three sisters, Joan Ranger of Falmouth, Marion Meader of Bath and Virginia Rideout of Millinocket; as well as many nieces and nephews.

A time of visitation will be held on Thursday, April 18, from 4 to 8 p.m., at Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford Street, Portland, where at 6:30 p.m. the Deering Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star will conduct a ritualistic service. A funeral service will be held on Friday at 1 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Brooklawn Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Becky's memory to: The Stevens Avenue Congregational Church, 790 Stevens Ave., Portland, ME 04103.