Melva (Cram) Hale, 90

Melva (Cram) Hale

Melva (Cram) Hale

DENMARK — Melva G. (Cram) Hale, 90, of Denmark, passed away early Thursday morning, July 11, 2013, at the Bridgton Health Care Center.

She was born on Oct. 14, 1922, on Tear Cap in East Hiram, the daughter of Joseph Raymond and Lillian Sanborn Cram.

Melva attended Fryeburg Academy and was a former member of the Eastern Star and Hiram Historical Society. She married Norman L. Hale in 1940 and moved to Denmark.

She was a dedicated homemaker and after her husband’s death she worked for Yankee Masters in Bridgton, a short time for Moir’s in Denmark, and babysat for Dr. Herman’s three children. She struggled with multiple sclerosis for 45 years and during the few years of remission she enjoyed traveling. She flew to Texas, Utah and in 1984 to Germany, where her daughter Chery and husband Jimmy were stationed. While there, she took several bus trips to Spain, Holland and Paris, where she was able to go to the top of the Eifel Tower with Chery and Jimmy.

Melva enjoyed playing bingo, crocheting, cooking, houseplants and baby-sitting any time she could. She was president of the L.A. Berry Cemetery for 17 years.

Melva is survived by two daughters, Dianne Lane of Bridgton and Chery Booker of Denmark; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; two step great-grandsons; three great-great-grandchildren; one step great-great-grandson; and many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband in 1976; two brothers, Daniel Basil Cram and Vernon Cram both in 1984; and one sister, Mona LePage in 2009.

Visiting hours were on Sunday, July 14, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Watson, Neal & York Funeral Home, 71 Maple Street, Cornish, where a funeral service was held on Monday, July 15, at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at L.A. Berry Cemetery in Denmark.