Alberta Currier (1928-2023)

NEW SHARON – Our dear Mother, Alberta S. Currier, passed away at home in New Sharon on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at the age of 94. She was born in Charleston, Maine in her Aunt Alta’s home on May 17, 1928, with her Grandmother Eva attending as midwife. She was the eldest daughter of Harvard J. Smith and Laura Smith York. She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, her husband, Linwood (John) whom she married on March 6, 1948, sister Colleen Cox, step-brothers Harry York and Carl York, brothers-in-law Delmar Currier and Paul Currier, and sisters-in-law Mona Nadeau, Kay Nadeau and Vivian Tracy.

Alberta is survived by her four children, Daniel (Patti) Florissant, CO; Alice (Marcus) Dungen, Fountain, CO; Elaine (William) Moceus, New Sharon, ME; and Samuel (Marvis) Vail, AZ. She has 7 Grandchildren; Michael Currier, CO; Kym (Lang) Lagafauina, CA; Toby Black, CO; Jason (Kori) Moceus, NJ; Joseph Moceus, WA; Amanda (Brian) Cross, AZ; and Abbie Currier, AZ; 14 great grandchildren: Jesse (Meghan), Zachary (Angelina), Erika, Tanner, Tyler, Dalton, Sabrina, Ashlea (Jeremy), Chloe, Leilani, Ryan, Emma, Owen, Reagan, and 2 great-great grandchildren, McCrea and Waylon. She is survived by one sister, Arlene (Carl) Campbell, Interlachen, FL and two brothers, Ralph Bernard (Harriet) Smith, Laurel, MS, and Bert Eugene (Arlene) Smith, Tampa, FL, and her sisters-in-law, June Currier, Ellen Currier, Barbara York and Jane York, as well as several cousins, nieces and nephews whom she all adored.

Alberta lived most of her life in New Sharon except for a brief stay as a young girl with her beloved Grandmother, Eva Florilla Saunders Harriman Candage, in Blue Hill, Maine, where she cultivated her great love for the seaside. She lived at her beloved homestead in New Sharon for 65 years.

Growing up, Alberta cared for her siblings and worked in the corn and blueberry fields. She helped with farming duties of haying, milking the cow, and feeding the animals before going to school. When she was only 9-10 years old, she led workhorses in plowing the fields to plant and harvest the crops. In her high school years, she worked in the corn shop in New Sharon while attending school. She even learned to repair some of the machines that she worked on as she didn’t like to lose time waiting for the repair man. She lived through the Great Depression, which greatly impacted her life.

Alberta enjoyed many hobbies to include knitting, sewing, crocheting, tatting, and gardening of her many beautiful flowers and vegetables. Each spring, she boiled sap for maple syrup. She also shoveled and plowed snow, mowed grass, ran the snowblower, and stacked wood as well as baked many apple pies and yeast rolls for various town functions. She canned home-grown vegetables for the winter months. She loved to fish and was known to hunt game as well. In her younger years, she did housework and in home hair-dos for several New Sharon residents who were unable to travel. She was well-known in the town of New Sharon for her all occasion and wedding cakes earning the “Cake Lady” title by creating well over 1300 confectionary masterpieces. She made Christmas wreaths, worked packing eggs, raked blueberries and managed the fields, made cheese at a local goat farm, as well as seeing to it that her own home was always in tip top order. She is a self-taught musician and painter and many of her hand-made items were displayed at the Farmington Fair, earning countless blue ribbons over the years. Her first entry was in 1949 and she didn’t miss a single year since. If you happened to stop for lunch or dinner at the New Sharon Methodist Church booth, she was undoubtedly beside the stove volunteering her culinary expertise.

She was a member of the Methodist Church and actively participated in the choir, lending her beautiful voice for all to enjoy. She was a life-long member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Messalunskit Chapter #170 for over 60 years, Secretary/Treasurer of Franklin Cemetery of North Vienna for over 30 years (she even mowed the grass), and Ballot Clerk in New Sharon for 33 years. She served as President and Treasurer of the New Sharon Alumni and took a CPR course during that time.

Of all of the above accomplishments, her greatest was as a loving and devoted Mother to her children. Given her broad range of knowledge of “all things”, she was able to impart to her children the abilities to be frugal, caring, knowing the rewards of hard work, and to always value family. Her actions were to lead by example, for which she set the bar high. This remarkable woman will forever remain in our hearts and memories. Alberta is best described as a “one of a kind” special lady with unlimited talent, patience, generosity, wisdom and wit, who truly defined unselfishness throughout her life by regularly assisting family, friends, and neighbors in a variety of ways while always placing herself last.

A very special and humble thanks to our wonderful sister, Elaine, who remained steadfastly and lovingly by our Mother’s side throughout her entire journey.

Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life at 1pm on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at the North Vienna United Methodist Church, 572 Tower Rd., Vienna, ME 04360 with a reception to follow at the church. Private graveside services will be limited to immediate family. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Alberta’s honor to the following organizations that she cherished: Order of the Eastern Star, Messalunskit Chapter #170, PO Box 96, New Sharon, Maine 04955; United Methodist Church, 18 Starks Rd, New Sharon, Maine 04955; Franklin Cemetery Association, North Vienna, Maine or to your favorite charity. Memories may be shared in her Book of Memories at www.wilesrc.com. Cremation care and memorial services are being cared for and provided by the Wiles Remembrance Center of Farmington.