Catherina McFarland Obituary (2007)

AUGUSTA - Catherina (Kay) Bond McFarland died peacefully at MaineGeneral Rehabilitation-Glenridge on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. She had been a patient at Glenridge for the last six months. For six years before that, she was lovingly cared for by her daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and Anthony Filauro of Millinocket. Catherina was born in Jefferson on Sept. 19, 1921, the daughter of Nancie Sprowl Bond and Ernest Moody Bond. She attended Jefferson Village School and was valedictorian of her eighth grade class. She graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1939 and Gates Business College in 1940. For the next five years, she worked for the Maine Bureau of Health. During the years of World War II, when gas was rationed, she and several friends took many bicycle trips around Maine. She met her future husband at a dance on the pier at Old Orchard Beach while on one of her bicycle vacations. On June 26, 1946, Catherina married Fred R. (Russ) McFarland. They lived in Portland for a few months before settling in Augusta, where her husband and his father opened the first car dealership on Western Avenue. Kay became a full-time homemaker when the first of her three children was born in 1947. She was a wonderful mother, very devoted to her children and proud of their accomplishments. She welcomed the arrival of each of her grandchildren and was always happy to have them visit. Wherever she went, Kay usually took her camera along. We, her family, sometimes complained. Now, looking through her large collection of albums, we realize what a priceless gift she has given us. Her daughters and grand-daughters are carrying on her legacy. We have scanned many of her slides and pictures and have also added our own pictures to our family collection. This tedious job has been rewarded many times over by the delight our mother took in seeing her old pictures made like new again, and some of them made into slide shows with music. Kay was a member of the Green Street United Methodist Church and was active in the women's Harmony Circle. She baked and contributed countless batches of cookies and other desserts to church events. When she was over 50, she got her driver's license. She loved to drive, and for the next 25 years, spent much time in her car. She was a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels for 12 years, enjoying driving around Augusta as much as she enjoyed all the people she met. In 1981, Kay and Russ installed an in-ground pool in the backyard of their Fuller Road house. Friends and relatives had an open invitation to stop by and bring their children and grandchildren too. The McFarlands backyard became a welcoming place to visit, relax with a glass of iced tea and to cool off on a hot day. Kay was predeceased by her husband in July 2002, by her parents and by her older brother, Avery Bond. She is survived by her three children, Janice Glidden, and her husband, Dale, of Winthrop, Gary McFarland, and his fianc?e, Teri Poulin, of Auburn, and Carolyn Filauro and her husband, Anthony, of Millinocket; five grandchildren, Alison Elliott and her husband Adam, Angela Filauro and Ryan, Shaina and Loriann Glidden; her brother, Ellis Bond and his wife, Donna, of Jefferson; her sister, Elsie Lash and her husband, Harold, of Friendship; her close cousin, Mary Gwinn and her husband, Gordon, of Anoka, Minnesota; her sister-in-law, Mildred Gendrolis and her husband, Alfred, of Falmouth; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. A celebration of her life will by held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1, at Roberts Funeral Home, 62 Bowdoin St., Winthrop. For directions to the funeral home, go to the following web site: http://www.khrfuneralhomes.com/pages/WinthropDirections.html. Burial will be at the Maine Veterans' Memorial Cemetery at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the Maine Parkinson Society, 5 Bucknam Road, Suite 1A, Falmouth, ME 04105 or to the Alzheimer's Association -- Maine Chapter, 170 US Route 1, Suite 250, Falmouth, Maine 04105.