HOULTON - Freda Mae Grant Carson, 96, died Nov. 27, 2010, at Houlton Regional Hospital, her Lord's possession, as she was throughout her good, long life. She was born Sept. 30, 1914, in Canterbury, New Brunswick, the second child of Edward Harris and Lillian Isabelle (Grant) Grant. When she was two years old the family, then with three children, immigrated to Maine, by horse and wagon, settling in Crystal, where her father worked in the woods and on the railroad, her parents eventually managing, additionally, a small subsistence farm. Freda was a bright student and was able to attend high school in Island Falls, by working her keep - including an unheated bedroom - with a local family. There was no school bus in the area then, and cars weren't affordable, so she walked many miles to visit her family. She graduated in 1933 and enjoyed many reunions since. She became secretary to Walter Cowan, a Houlton lawyer and judge of probate, and remained such for 25 years. During that time she became a proud American citizen, and was later appointed by Gov. Cross as the first and only woman recorder of Houlton Municipal Court, and only the second so-appointed in the county. As such she was authorized to act as judge on many occasions, whenever the municipal judge was unavailable. When Maine District Court was established in 1962, Chief Justice Chapman appointed her as clerk of the district, a full-time position. In 1978 Gov. Longley appointed her a lifetime Dedimus Justice. Her retirement banquet in 1983 was attended by many luminaries of the Maine court system, in addition to many others, on some of whom she had levied fines - you know who you are. Freda was active in many community organizations, too numerous to list here, and in all of them held the position of president or chair for several years. She was also an avid gardener and an accomplished seamstress, making much of her own clothing, and was an expert in the nearly-lost art of tatting - a form of decorative hand-sewing. Not only that, she was a devoted and beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and also a dedicated homemaker and a very good cook. She excelled at everything she did. She married J. Merland Carson, a recent widower, in 1949, and adopted his eight-year-old daughter, Gayle. In 1974 Freda and Merland moved from Houlton to Linneus to better help Gayle manage her farm after the death of Gayle's first husband, Roger Bates. Their help was critical when their grandson, Michael Bates, died a few months later. When Freda left their small neighboring farm two years after Merland's death in 1990, she managed the planet's largest ever yard sale, still talked about, as Merland saved everything. Freda is survived by her daughter, Gayle Boone and husband, Alan, of Bangor; granddaughter, Marcia Bates Greenfield of Eliot; great-granddaughter, Hannah Greenfield of Pittsburgh; sister, Elsie Grant Hoskin of Houlton; a special niece and her husband, Marian and Don Burton of California and Mattawamkeag Lake; a special nephew and his wife, Royal and Susan Hoskin and their daughter, Elizabeth, of Hollis Center; and stepgrandsons, Storer Boone and Jacob Boone and their families, of London and Toronto. In addition to the already mentioned lost loved ones, she cherished her recently deceased nephew, George Hoskin; and those relations of her brothers, Burns, Joseph and David Grant; and of her late sister, Eva Grant Kennedy; and also many friends. There will be a visiting hour 10-11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 3, at Military Street Baptist Church, Houlton, with a last service immediately after, which the Rev. Randall Burns will officiate. Friends and family are invited to a luncheon at the church after the service. As Freda was an active member of the church, a memorial gift to Military Street Baptist Church Building Fund, in lieu of flowers, would be gratefully accepted, care of Dunn Funeral Home, 11 Park St., Houlton, ME 04730.
[Bangor Daily News - Nov 29, 2010]