WEST PARIS – Jean Christina “Jeanne” Buchanan-Roberts, 70, formerly of Averill Road, Dixfield, died March 25, 2010 at Ledgeview Living Center in West Paris, where she had been a resident since March 25, 2009, with her husband at her side.
Jeanne was born May 9, 1929, in North Croydon, England, a daughter of (Ret. British Army) Capt. John E. and Elsie May (Sansum) Buchanan.
She attended Slades School of Art in London, England and travelled in her early childhood with her parents throughout Europe and crossed the Atlantic three times. The last voyage with her mother was especially dangerous due to the beginning of WWII. It was in Stanford, CT., where Jean and her mother (a school teacher) settled until the end of the war.
Jean was a typical British girl – tall, slender, brown hair, blue eyes and a pleasant smile. She completed her education at Daycroft School in Stamford, CT. where her mother held a teaching position. She found Daycroft her haven in her war- tossed life. Its loving sitting with high hills, surrounded by glorious woodlands and the slight sound of the sea reminded her of “home” in England. Jean, being an outdoor girl, loved animals, hiking and horse back riding, which was easily her favorite hobby; while art was her serious study.
Jean was especially proud of her sister, Elsa Buchanan who was playing Hollywood, CA in movies. When the war broke out, her sister played a more serious role as an officer in the WAAF, women’s Auxiliary Air Force, as her husband Noll Charlton was a naval officer in the Royal Navy and her father’s military services were extended in the British Army.
After the war, she returned to England with her mother in the 1950s. In 1963, following the death of her mother, she settled in Essex, CT. In 1976, she met her future husband, Richard Roberts and was married Nov. 24, 1979 in Old Lyme, CT. after which they moved to Dixfield, Maine. It was in Dixfield that she and Dick ran a foster home for 13 years and had a small business and continued her art studies at UMF. Jean loved music and possessed a good singing voice that she shared joyfully with the choir at the Dixfield Congregational Church …”the “Church on the Hill,” of which she was a member.
Following her work at the foster home, she drove for the Bureau of Mental Retardation for five years.
The family of Jeanne and Dick would like to extend a thank you to our friends and to Doctors Robert Weiss (cardiologist) and Jacob Ledesma (primary care), and the nursing staff and new friends at Ledgeview Living Center, West Paris.
She is survived by her husband, Dick Roberts of Dixfield; nephew Roger Charlton and his wife, Jackie of Scotland, UK; grandnephew David Charlton of Vancouver, Canada and several nieces and nephews by marriage. She was predeceased by her parents and beloved sister, Elsa Buchanan Charlton.
Public memorial services will be held at the Dixfield Congregational Church , the “Church on the Hill,” on Saturday, April 10, 2010, at 11 a.m. with Rev. John Gensel and Rev. Ronald Ashworth co-officiating. Following services, a reception will follow in the church vestry, hosted by the hospitality committee. Committal services will be held Monday, April 12 at 12 Noon at the new Maine Veterans’
Memorial Cemetery, Mt. Vernon Rd., Augusta. In lieu of flowers, remembrance gifts may be given to the Dixfield Congregation Church Choir fund PO Box 615 Dixfield, Me. 04224. Condolences and tributes may be shared with her family at www.wilesrc.com. Arrangements are in the care of the Wiles Remembrance Center, 30 Weld St., Dixfield.
