DANBURY, CONN. —  Vera Roslyn McBean Kaulback passed away on July 13, 2011, in Danbury, Conn. She celebrated her 91st birthday just two weeks previously with friends at Filosa Convalescent Home in Danbury, Conn., where she resided since January.

Vera was born in St. Malachi, Quebec, on June 25, 1920, the daughter of Annie Rutherford McBean and Albert McBean, at the dairy farm of her maternal grandparents. Her parents brought her home to Rumford shortly after her birth. Vera grew up in Rumford with her parents, her two brothers, Wesley and Ray, and other beloved aunts, uncles and cousins. She lived her entire life as a Mainer, until at age 89, when she moved to Connecticut to be closer to her two daughters. The Rumford vicinity was her home for the first 39 years of her life, until 1959, when she moved to Yarmouth.

In 1942, she married Lloyd Kaulback, who served in the South Pacific as a Seabee for three years in World War II. After the war, they lived with their two daughters in Rumford and summered in Harpswell and at Worthley Pond, East Peru. They enjoyed many happy times with their extended family and members of their church family from the Rumford Baptist Church.

Vera graduated from Stephens High School in 1937 and from Farmington Normal School in 1940. In 1957, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Farmington. She took courses and studied constantly throughout her life, working toward her master's degree and taking courses in the countless subjects that interested her. She believed in and loved learning and wanted to share her love of learning with others around her.

Vera’s first teaching job was in the two-room school house in Wilson Mills. She taught for over 30 years in Mexico, Rumford, Virginia, Freeport and Yarmouth. Her last position was as reading consultant for the Yarmouth Public Schools. She loved teaching and the hundreds of students that she taught over her career, and many of them remembered her and contacted her in later years, bringing pictures and sharing stories of their time together. She also thoroughly enjoyed her fellow teachers and colleagues and met regularly with many of them after retirement.

When she wasn’t reading or studying, she enjoyed decorating and had a flair for color and style, which was evident in her wardrobe and dressing throughout her life. Even in the assisted living and nursing home days, people often commented on her stylishness and sense of color.

Vera was well known in Yarmouth, not only from the many years she taught there, but also from her active participation in the Yarmouth Baptist Church as a deacon and Superintendent of Sunday Schools.

Her husband, Lloyd, who was a vice-president of Hannaford Brothers and manager of Food Town stores in Lewiston, Auburn, and Rumford, passed away in 1975. As a widow, Vera continued an active and engaged life, traveling around the United States, Canada, and Europe with family and friends. Her special traveling companion was her sister-in-law Marion and she and Marion spent winters in Sanibel, Fla., for many years.

Vera studied painting and, in her 60s, rode on a float in the Yarmouth Clam Festival as a “Budding Young Artist of America.”

Some of the happiest times of her life were the summers that she worked at Tripp Lake as a waitress. Up to the last week of her life, her family could bring a smile to her face by reminding her of her Tripp Lake adventures.

She is survived by her two daughters, Brenda Kaulback of North Salem, N.Y. and Casco, and Carol Vaughn of Rowayton, Conn. and Boca Grande, Fla.; her four grandchildren; a great-grandson; and several nieces and nephews; and two cousins.

She was predeceased by her husband, Lloyd; and her brothers, Raymond and Wesley.

A time of visitation was held on Saturday, July 16, 2011, at the Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford Street, Portland. Funeral services followed at the funeral home. Her niece and nephew, Peter and Teresa McBean of Richmond, Va., officiated. Interment was at the Farrington-Morton Cemetery in Mexico. Please visit www.jonesrichandhutchins.com for additional information and to sign Vera’s guestbook.

Contributions may be made in memory of her great-nephew Craig to: The Craig Thomas McBean Memorial Scholarship Fund, MSAD #22 Superintendent’s Office, 24 Maine Road, North, Hampden, ME 04444, or to Vera’s alma mater, the University of Maine at Farmington, where there is a scholarship in her name, send to Pat Carpenter, Director of Gift Planning and Stewardship, University of Maine at Farmington, Ferro Alumni Center, 242 Main St., Farmington, ME 04938.