Mildred (Millie) Berry, 103, of Bristol Mills, passed away Feb. 16 at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta.
She was born March 28, 1903, in Saco, the daughter of Ralph and Elizabeth Veazie.
She grew up in the Bar Mills area where she attended local schools before moving to Saco.
After graduating from high school, she went on to graduate from St. Barnabus School of Nursing.
After graduation, she accompanied a family to San Diego, Cal. and cared for their ill son for two winters. Thus, began her treks from coast to coast.
She and a friend, also a nurse, bought a Studebaker convertible in 1927, and traveled across the United States, stopping to work in various hospitals along the way. Perhaps they were among the first ‘traveling nurses’. They eventually arrived in Washington, D.C., where she met her first husband, Dr. Howard Childs. She and Dr. Childs moved to Bristol in the mid 1930’s, where she opened a nursing home, which at that time, was mainly a “birthing center” in her home. She was always proud of the fact that she cared for five mothers and five babies at one time.
Dr. Childs died prematurely in 1938.
In 1940, she married Dr. Clyde Berry and continued to operate the nursing home. In 1987, she closed the nursing home after operating it for more than 50 years.
She touched many lives over the course of her life. She will be remembered for the excellent nursing care she gave her patients, and her never-ending generosity.
She was one of the original members of the Nursing Home Association of Maine. She felt it essential that nursing homes be required to meet special guidelines to insure quality care and a proper environment for patients.
She was a long time member of the Eastern Star and Past Worthy Matron of the OES Pemaquid Chapter.
In her leisure, she enjoyed playing bridge, gardening, and cooking, and later in life, watching and discussing Red Sox games. She was an avid fan who watched each game of the 2004 World Series in its entirety, some ending way after midnight.
She was predeceased by three brothers, Carl Veazie, Earl (Bud) Hannon, and Irving Hannon; sisters, Carolyn Lewis, and Olive Lucariello.
She is survived by her daughter, Mary Ann Peterson Ray and husband David Ray of Bristol; grandsons, Clyde A. Poland of Henderson, Nev., and Timothy Peterson and family of S. Berwick; and her great-grandson, Samuel Peterson of S. Berwick.
Memorial service to celebrate Millie’ s life will be held on her birthday at 2 p.m., Wed., March 28 at the Congregational Church in Bristol, with a reception to follow at Millie’s home in Bristol Mills.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Congregational Church of Bristol, P.O. Box 154, Bristol, ME 04539, or Bristol First Responders, P.O. Box 104, New Harbor, ME 04554.
Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home, Main St., Waldoboro.
