February 26, 2009
Bayville Beat
Another loss
By Peter Jordan
Elsewhere in this edition of the Register is an obituary for Bayville’s Catherine Forbush Bass, who died recently at age 90 after a long illness.
"Aunt Catherine," as many of us called her, was at the center of Bayville, geographically (the Bass cottage is right in the middle of Bayville), emotionally, and spiritually. In the words of her daughter, Joanne O'Connor, "we are eternally grateful to my mother's grandfather, Joshua Dill, for building such a special cottage in a special place!"
Originally from Brockton, Massachusetts, she had deep roots in Bayville as the daughter of Helen (Dill) and Walter A. Forbush. As a camp counselor in her teens at Kineowatha Camps in Wilton, Maine, she met young George H. Bass II, who worked maintaining the camp facilities and transporting campers. They married November 26, 1938, and enjoyed 63 wonderful years together prior to his death in 2002.
"Catherine's personal friends were close and constant, certainly including friends in Bayville," recalls her son-in-law, Chuck Wolfram. "Even as Alzheimer's disease dimmed her power to recall, she would brighten immediately when she saw, for example, Jane Stover or Ellie Jordan – old, dear friends from their years of child-rearing together and in the many years since."
"Catherine was a perfectionist, attempting nothing without focused care and devotion, whether it was child-rearing, golf, gardening, cooking, teaching her daughters to sail, or perfecting her base-line drop shot in tennis doubles," says Chuck. "Children, grandchildren, and their families will always remember her simple but superb cottage meal of lobster stew, blueberry muffins, and then homemade dessert."
"My mother was a very good parent, and she did things well always," says Nancy Wolfram.
"Bayville was their special place, where each summer she and George returned with their daughters to the cottage where her mother had brought Catherine and her brothers as children," Chuck recalls. "Catherine and George made the cottage their own. A major improvement was the enlarged deck off the Glen side of the cottage, where Catherine and George could often be found together on sunny days. George's death in 2002 tested Catherine greatly, but she bore her anguish quietly and with stoicism, firmly believing that she would some day be reunited with the emotional center of her life."
While Chuck remembers blueberry muffins with lobster stew, Joanne remembers the blueberry cake they always had with lobsters.
And Joanne recalls that while her father's bathing suits were well-soaked in Linekin Bay, her mother's two-piece stayed dry - Catherine preferred sunning on the back deck of her cottage.
"My mother was a very capable person," says Joanne, "but she was painfully shy."
Joanne remembers a
trip to Oregon for her twelfth birthday to visit
cousins and ski Mount Hood.
"My first plane trip with her was memorable, sitting in the back around
a table and playing cards."
Some of us remember "Aunt Catherine" as quite a disciplinarian, but after all these years, Joanne confesses that her mother would spirit her out of school on Monday afternoons to go skiing at Sugarloaf.
The Bayville Fourth of July parade this summer may have a Thunderbirds flyover, but it will be much diminished without Catherine Forbush Bass riding in an O'Connor Chevrolet pickup to the tune of the Stars and Stripes Forever played by the Boothbay Region Alumni Community Band.
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Obituaries
February 26, 2009 Issue
Catherine F. Bass
Catherine Forbush Bass, 90, of Hallowell, formerly of Wilton, Strong, Wayne and Brunswick, died Monday, February 16, after a long illness.
She was born in Brockton, Mass. on November 15, 1918 and was the daughter of Helen (Dill) and Walter A. Forbush. Catherine graduated from Abbot Academy (now Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts) and attended Pembroke College (now Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island).
On November 26, 1938, she married George H. Bass II and together they enjoyed 63 wonderful years prior to his death in 2002. They met at Kineowatha Camps in Wilton where Catherine served as a camp counselor and George worked maintaining the facilities and transporting campers.
Catherine lived in Wilton and Strong most of her adult life while her husband George ran the family firm of G. H. Bass & Company, shoe manufacturers. Although the shoe business was her husband’s main occupation, his consuming interest was farming. Together, Catherine and George operated Maplewood Farm, a 2,000-acre farm in Strong. Catherine was the accountant and bookkeeper. They had a herd of 75 Holsteins, many crops, as well as lumbering and trucking operations. Catherine’s primary role was overseeing maple syrup production which peaked at more than 600 gallons per year. Their farm supplied maple syrup to several of the finest hotels in Boston, including the Parker House.
Many will fondly remember Catherine for her exquisite hosting skills both at family gatherings and larger functions. She was also an expert knitter and enjoyed fine stenciling and water colors. Catherine was an avid golfer and particularly enjoyed playing after retirement at their winter home in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
She was a member of the First Congregational Church in Wilton and also attended the Wayne Community Church in Wayne and the Kellogg Congregational Church in Harpswell.
Catherine is survived by her two daughters, Nancy Bass Wolfram and her husband, Chuck, of Berkeley, California and Joanne Bass O’Connor and her husband, Richard, of Edgecomb; four grandchildren, Catherine Wolfram and her husband, Matt Barmack, of Berkeley, California, Peter Wolfram of Berkeley, California, George O’Connor and his wife, Melissa, of Augusta, and Alane Bass O’Connor and her husband, Kevin Wellenius, of Belgrade Lakes; six great-grandchildren, Sky Wolfram, Devon, Bridget and Brady O’Connor, and Max and Sylvia Catherine Barmack; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was predeceased by her beloved husband George, her parents, and her three siblings, Walter, Lothrop and Louise.
The family is deeply grateful to the special friends who helped care for Catherine over the years: Kelley, Jen, Karen, Judy, Mary, Dan, Betty and others.
Private graveside services will be held this summer at Lakeview Cemetery, Wilton. Those wishing to make a contribution in Catherine’s memory are encouraged to support the Alzheimer’s Association of Maine, 170 U.S. Route 1, Suite 250, Falmouth, ME 04105, or the Franklin County Animal Shelter, 550 Industry Road, Farmington, ME 04938. Online condolences may be sent to the family via e-mail to info@wilesrc.com. Arrangements are in the care of the Wiles Remembrance Center, 136 High St., Wilton.