Alice Poor

KENDUSKEAG - Alice Ruth (Haley) Poor - Heaven gained an angel early Saturday morning, but a light went out in this world with the passing of 88 year old Alice Poor. This quietly eloquent lady was surrounded by her family when she died at her home on April 2, 2016, from complications of Multiple Myeloma. Known as “Nana” to most, Alice was born on December 1, 1927, in North Conway, NH, to Fred and Susie Haley, the youngest of 7 children.
She grew up in N. Conway, NH where she will be remembered fondly by many for her tenacity for life and her figure skating abilities. She started working as a bookkeeper at the Carroll Reed Ski Shop fresh out of high school and she supplemented her income by fixing zippers on the side. There wasn't a zipper out there that she couldn't make work and she used that talent right up to the end saving the fate of many a favorite article of clothing for all she knew. Her natural talent and amazing skill at waitressing began at the Hoffman House in N. Conway in 1959 and ended with her retirement after 26 years at Killarney's Restaurant on Main St. in Bangor, Maine. N. Conway was also where she met and married the love of her life, John "Jay" Poor. They married on New Year's Eve 1953 and, in true Alice fashion, honeymooned during a blizzard.
In 1964, she and John moved to Kenduskeag where they raised their family and she became an integral part of the close knit small community. Her door was always open to friends and strangers alike and her kitchen was where you would find all the neighborhood ladies drinking coffee and sharing laughter after the kids left for school. During the 1970's and 80's her smile and warmth greeted many a hungry soul who wandered into Art's Place (Dirty Gert's) in Kenduskeag village for lunch.
But Alice's greatest joys were always her family and friends. She had a hug for everyone and truly lit up any room she entered. Her smile and laughter was contagious and she made everyone feel special; never having an unkind word about anyone. Alice was a witty character whose stories would make people laugh until they cried. Her life was never about her, but about those who made her life worth living. Having struggled to feel healthy enough to attend her only granddaughter's wedding on April 17th, one of her final concerns was the shadow her death would cast on their happy occasion. Even in the end, she was worried about those she was leaving behind instead of the pain she was enduring.
Although she lived a simple life, she lived it to the fullest. After retirement she embraced her love of travel and was never home for long before heading off to her next adventure. She was ready in a moment's notice to go wherever and with whomever invited her. From England to Hawaii, to the tundra of Churchill, Manitoba, to the tropics of the Caribbean, she took in the beauty of the world and made friends wherever she went. Two years ago, she and her grandson Bradly, her special traveling companion and friend, went on a cross-country road trip to the Great Plains in search of tornadoes, ending up in the deserts of Arizona that he now calls home.
Alice was the strongest woman you could ever meet and her strength was never more evident than when she had to endure the tragedies and losses of loved ones. She faced each death with poise and grace being predeceased by her infant son Eric in 1968, her husband John and daughter Katherine in 1999, her grandson SSGT Eric Ross in 2007, and her son Douglas in 2014. She also was predeceased by her siblings, Louise, Herbert, Dana and Owen Haley and Hazel Hunter.
Her legacy proudly lives on in her daughters Christina Poor & husband David Ferrelli of Dover, NH; Ann Kenny and husband Michael, of Veazie, ME ; daughter in law, Denise Poor, of St. Petersburg., Fl; granddaughter Deidre Poor and fiancé Erik Nathe, of Tampa, FL; grandson Bradly Kenny of Phoenix, AZ; 3 great grandchildren; “daughter” Lorrie Knight-Tuthill and husband Arthur, of Wilton, NH, “son” Randy Crooker and wife Melissa, of Corinth, ME; brother Elmer Haley and wife Evelyn, of N. Conway NH; special nieces Louise Schuknecht and husband Ingo & Pearl Young and husband Carl; several other nieces and nephews; very special friends Wilfred “Bud” and Doris Bowden, Cindy and Louis Wilson, & Carol and Bill Shaw; as well as many, many other friends.
Join us at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center Street, Bangor, ME 5 to 7pm Friday, April 8th, for visiting hours and 11 am Saturday April 9th for a celebration of her life with Rev. Ruth Guerette, presiding. Burial will immediately follow in Kenduskeag Village Cemetery and after, memories, love and laughter will be shared at her home at 3985 Broadway in Kenduskeag. Those who wish to remember Alice in a special way may gifts in her memory to Maine Chapter Parents of Murdered Children, C/O of Ann Kenny, 2 Highview Terrace, Veazie, ME 04401. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com.
"When you smile, the whole world stops and stares, 'cause girl your amazing, just the way you are" Bruno Mars