Laura Mrugala, 86, of Waldoboro and Damariscotta, passed away on March 31 at Damariscotta’s Hodgdon Green following a period of declining health. She was born in Damariscotta, the daughter of the late Hattie (Webber) Guptill and Jefferson Guptill and the sister of the late Frank and James Guptill. She was one of the quickly disappearing group of Americans know as “the greatest generation.” After graduating from Lincoln Academy, Laura relocated to Connecticut where she became one of the women who helped build airplane engines so vital to the Allies in the war effort. Her recollections of growing up during the Great Depression and of the life of the home front during WWII were fascinating.
Following her marriage to Peter Alexander Mrugala, New Hampshire became Laura’s home for nearly a quarter of a century while she and her husband raised a family. In 1972 they moved to South Berwick. Summer weekends were spent in Freeport enjoying their camper. After the passing of her husband in 1986 and then that of her son, Peter Clifford Mrugala, in 1995, she moved permanently to Freeport.
But the urge to return to her roots was strong, and in 1999, Laura moved to Waldoboro to be near her extended family. The last several years of her life she enjoyed the quiet independence of living in her own home and the warmth and love of her cousins and friends in the part of Maine she called home.
Laura is survived by a daughter Christina Ann Harmon, of Bow, N.H.; grandson, PFC Stephen Christopher Harmon, serving with the U.S. Army in South Korea; half-sister, Louise Burns of Ladsen, S.C.; sister-in-law, Celia Guptill of Cove’s Edge; and cousins, Louis Abbotoni of Damariscotta, Michael Abbotoni of Union, Linda Miller of Waldoboro and Rosemarie Wade of Waldoboro.
Funeral 2 p.m., Mon., April 4 at Hall Funeral Home, 949 Main St., Waldoboro with Rev. Robin Honaker officiating. Private interment will be held at the North Edgecomb Cemetery in Edgecomb in the spring.
Should friends desire, contributions in Laura’s memory may be made to any of the following agencies or facilities in Damariscotta, ME 04543: Cove’s Edge Rehabilitation Center, 26 Schooner St.; Hodgdon Green, 6 Hodgdon St.; or the Miles-St. Andrews Hospice, 40 Belvedere Rd.
You are invited to share your condolences with the Mrugala family by visiting their Book of Memories at www.hallfuneralhomes.com.
Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home, Waldoboro.
