Journal Tribune from Biddeford, Maine • 5

JULY 10, 2007 JOURNAL TRIBUNE A5 Doris Palmer Obituaries Roy Freeman WELLS Roy E. "Whitie" Freeman, 88, died Sunday in the Springbrook Healthcare Center in Westbrook after a long illness He was born in York on Aug. 11, 1918, to George and Edna (Perkins) Freeman. In his younger days, he worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. He also drove a school bus for a time.

Most of his life was spent in the wood business. He cut and hauled pulpwood and cordwood, and in later years he supplied many local campgrounds with firewood. He was an avid hunter and clam digger and was known to his friends as "Whitie." He was preceded in death by: One brother, Leonard Freeman, and four sisters, Maria Griswold, Marion Stone, Annie Smith and Evelyn Freeman. He is survived by: His wife of 56 years, Carolyn Smith Freeman of Wells; three sons, Roy "Buzzy" Freeman, Jr. of York, Gary Freeman (and his wife, Tanya) of Wells and Dwaine "Mutty" Freeman (and his wife Marilyn) also of Wells; three daughters, Rosalie Kozlowski of South Berwick, Pamela Freeman of Lebanon and Deborah Dufort (and her husband, Andy) of Wells; one sister, Louise Housenfluck of Florida; two brothers, Haven Freeman and Paul Freeman both of York; many nieces and nephews; grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Deaths Elsewhere Ralph Bernstein PHILADELPHIA Ralph Bernstein, who peppered coaches and players with tough questions for nearly a half-cen- tury while covering the Philadelphia sports scene for The Associated Press, has died.

He was 85. Bernstein died Saturday of cancer, said his daughter-inlaw, Maureen Bernstein. Bernstein, who lived in Pembroke Pines, since retiring in February 1994 after more than 48 years at the AP, would have turned 86 on Thursday. Colleagues recalled Bernstein's hard-nosed questions sending the normally cool Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry stalking angrily from a stage, and prompting Philadelphia Phillies manager Danny Ozark to kick a trash can in the team clubhouse and threaten to punch him. But after fielding a series of tame questions at a news conference shortly after Bernstein's retirement, Philadelphia Eagles coach Rich Kotite groaned, "I miss Ralph." SANFORD Doris "Dot" Palmer, 81, died Sunday at Goodall Hospital: in Sanford.

She was born in Sanford on May 26, 1926, to Azade and Rachel Lapointe Arsnault. She attended local schools. During her working life, she worked as a mender in the Goodall Mills in Sanford and mills in Limerick and for 24 years as a welder at Sprague Electric. She worked as a caregiver for Mr. Trafton and Mr.

Turchi and also worked for a time at Jerry's Diner in Sanford, helping her brother get the business going. She was fan of car racing, enjoyed watching stock car races and liked to see her son, Danny, race. She was preceded in death by: One sister, Theresa Collette, and a son-in-law, James Hoffmaster. She is survived by: Her husband of 52 years, Donald Palmer of Springvale; two sons, Danny Palmer (and his wife, Diane) of Springvale and Davy Palmer (and his wife, Jeanne) of Springvale; three daughters, Donna Hoffmaster of Alfred, Darlene Spencer (and her husband, Wayne) of Shapleigh and Doreen Ciullo (and her husband, David) of Epping, N.H.; three siblings, Jerry Arsenault (and his wife Judi) Anita Arsenault and Junior Arsenault; eight grandchildren, Danielle Palmer Treadwell (and her husband, Matthew) Christopher Palmer (and his wife, Twila), Amy Hoffmaster, Jenilee Palmer, Daniel Collins, Melissa Palmer, Krista Hoffmaster and Nicholas Palmer. Rita Choiniere SACO Rita C.

Choiniere, 83, died Saturday at Seal Rock Health Care after a brief illness. She was born in Biddeford on June 28,1924, a daughter of Hida and Angelina Binette Tetreault. She was educated in Biddeford schools. On Sept. 3, 1949, she married Roland Choiniere at St.

Joseph's Church. She worked at Kesslen Shoe, Bruce Shoe and Sebago Shoe as a stitcher, retiring several years ago. She enjoyed gardening, spending time at the family camp at Bunganut Pond, cooking, and was an avid Red Sox and Patriots Fan. She was preceded in death by: Her husband, Roland in 1966; one brother, Maurice Tetreault, and one sister, Jeannette Bisson in 1999. She is survived by: One niece, Maureen of California; two nephews, Marc Bisson (and his wife, Sandra) of Sanford Carl Bisson (and his wife, Donna) of Hollis and several nieces and nephews.

About Obituaries Obituaries are news stories outling a person's life and listing survivors. Obituaries are printed free of charge. There is a charge for information about calling hours, funeral services and memorial donations. Death Notices CHOINIERE PALMER RITA C. of Saco died July 7 in Saco.

DORIS "DOT" of Sanford died July 8 There will be no visiting hours. A in Sanford. Dot's family would like to graveside service will be at 2 p.m. on express heartfelt and sincere thanks to Thursday, July 12 at St. Joseph's Dr.

John McGuckin, the staff of H. D. Cemetery in Biddeford. Goodall Hospital and the staff and Arrangements are by Hope Memorial caregivers at Greenwood Center for Chapel, 480 Elm Biddeford, ME the excellent care that she received. 04005.

Donations in Rita's memory They would also like to extend their be made to: Beacon Hospice, 54 gratitude to her "special friend" Renee may Atlantic Place, So. Portland, ME Johnson. Their kindness, love and 04106. personal attention will never be forgotten. Those planning an expression FREEMAN of sympathy are asked to consider ROY E.

"WHITIE" of Wells died July 8 sending memorial contributions to: in Westbrook. Services will be private The Greenwood Center Activities and interment will follow in the Fund, 1142 Main Street, Sanford, Oceanview Cemetery in Wells. Maine 04073. A graveside service Friends who wish may contribute to will be held at 10 a.m. on the: Alzheimer's Association, 163 Wednesday, July 11 at St.

Ignatius Lancaster Street, Suite 160B, Portland, Cemetery in Sanford. Arrangements 04101-2406. Arrangements are are through Carll-Heald and Black ME under the care of the Johnson Funeral Funeral Home in Springvale. To leave 26 Market Street, North a message of condolence, please visit Home, Berwick. www.blackfuneralhomes.com.

N.H., Maine adoptees celebrate original birth certificate laws CONCORD, N.H. (AP) Advocates for adoptees on Monday celebrated the issuance of the original birth certificate under a New Hampshire law that also became the model for legislation enacted just a few weeks ago in neighboring Maine. "This is the most significant piece of legislation I've ever sponsored," said state Sen. Lou D' Allesandro, who's now serving his 13th year in New Hampshire's Legislature. D' Allesandro sees the law from a unique perspective as the father of two adoptive children, one of them born in Maine.

"I can't tell you, the cards and letters I get from people all over the country telling me how glad they are that this has happened," said the Manchester Democrat. Since Jan. 2, 2005, New Hampshire has allowed people born there who are 18 and older to obtain their original birth certificates those with their biological parents' names without having to get a judge's approval first. Monday's observance at the state's vital records office in Concord marked the issuance of the birth certificate under that law, which supporters call the first of its kind passed by a New England state and the seventh in the nation. Advocates say the law helps adoptees find out about their biological parents' medical histories so they will have more information on whether they and their own children are prone to hereditary diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

While that is a major concern of supporters, it is secondary to the notion that having access to original birth certificates is a basic right of adoptees, said Maine state Sen. Philip Booth, New England poet, dead at 81 Philip Booth, a longtime Syracuse University professor whose poetry focused mainly on his native New England, has died at age 81. Booth died July 2 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease in Hanover, where he was born and spent much of his life, according to his family. Booth, who studied with Robert Frost and was a prominent member of a literary circle in Castine, Maine, explored New England themes with a native son's understanding of the landscape and coastline. His sparse style combined Down East Maine economy and naturalistic rhythms.

"After work, splitting birch by the light outside his back door, a man in Maine thinks what his father told him, splitting outside this same back door," he wrote in the poem "A Man in Maine." Booth was born Oct. 8, 1925, in Hanover, where his father taught at Dartmouth College. The family spent summers in Castine. While in the Air Force in World War II, Booth met his wife, Margaret Tillman. The two raised three daughters while Booth taught at Dartmouth and then at Wellesley College in the 1950s.

In the 1960s, he moved to Syracuse, where he became poet in residence and co-founded the graduate program in creative writing. His books of poetry included "The Islanders," "Weathers and Edges" and "Letter From a Distant Land." He also published in magazines including The New Yorker, The Atlantic HANOVER, N.H. (A.P) Monthly and The American Poetry Review. Stephen Dunn, Booth's student at Syracuse and the winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, stayed in touch with his former teacher for years. "He was a major influence first as a teacher and then as a friend who continued to be a teacher," Dunn said from his home in Frostburg, Md.

"I know I would not have been as exacting and precise as I wished to be had it not been for him." In the 1980s, the Booths moved to the Castine home where he had spent summers as a boy and where five generations of his family had lived. He worked in an upstairs room with a view of Main Street and, with several other writers, earned Castine a reputation as a center for writers. Booth's poetry "perfectly reflects Castine, but also the region," said Dixie Gray, curator of a summer Historical Society exhibition that features Booth. "It's what we see around us, or what he taught us to see about this place and what we do here." His wife said the couple moved into an assisted living community in Hanover in 2002 after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. His family was with him when he died.

was the only home that I think he ever felt was his natural place," Margaret Booth said last week. "He always wanted to be there. He loved the straightforwardness of the people and their affection toward him." House fire leaves family of 10 without a home AURORA (AP)- A family of 10 was left homeless after a weekend fire destroyed their home in this northern Hancock County town. Pat and Judy Monahan and their eight children weren't at the Silsby Hill Road home when a passer-by reported the fire at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, fire officials said.

The fire started in a barn and spread to the house, which is a total loss, said Aurora Fire Chief Floyd Lawrence. But he said most of the family's belongings and a family cat were saved when firefighters and neighbors removed items before the fire spread to the house. The family spent the night with other family members Paula Benoit, an adoptee who sponsored the legislation that Gov. John Baldacci signed June 25. Benoit, -Phippsburg, said Maine's law, which takes effect in 2009, restores rights that were taken away in 1953 when Maine passed a law that required adoptees to obtain court orders in order to get access to their original birth certificates.

Both Maine's and New Hampshire's laws allow biological parents to state that they do not wish to be contacted by a birth child. Restoration of direct access "is a very big deal for people who have been without an identity," said Benoit, who attended Monday's event that also celebrated the passage of Maine's law. "This is a right everyone has except adoptees born (since 1953)." Benoit became the key to passage of the Maine law this year after efforts to persuade the previous Legislature to pass it foundered, according to supporters. While advocates prepared well for the previous session's attempt, "they didn't have an advocate in the Legislature," said Benoit. "I was the advocate this year." had a personal conversation with every single one" of the other 150 legislators, she added.

Paul Schibbelhute, New England Regional Director of the American Adoption Congress, said Benoit "brought a civil tone to the whole debate. She was able to personalize it for the Legislature." Shibbelhute's group says Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, Oregon and Tennessee also allow adoptees to have access to their original birth certificates. UMF joins others in withdrawing from part of U.S. News survey PORTLAND (AP) The University of Maine at Farmington is joining a growing list of colleges and universities declining to complete a survey for the U.S. News World Report rankings of higher-education institutions.

President Theodora Kalikow said the university will not fill out part of the survey asking college presidents to rank their peers. The peer review, which comprises 25 percent of a school's score, has been criticized as too subjective. Dozens of schools like the University of Maine at Farmington are skipping that portion of the survey used in the magazine's "Best American Colleges" report. Leading the charge is the Annapolis Group, an organization comprised of private liberal arts colleges including Maine's Colby, Bates and Bowdoin. So far, however, those three colleges have not taken the same stance, officials said.

The U.S. News rankings are used by students and their families to make decisions about where to apply. But critics say the rankings mislead and encourage gamesmanship. UMF isn't abandoning the U.S. News World Report's rankings altogether.

UMF will continue to provide the magazine with publicly available 00) Made Journal Tribune Rest Mall cull Voted "Best Maine Daily Newspaper 2005-2006" by the Maine Press Association! Subscribe today and find out why! IN MEMORIAM In Loving Memory of My Husband ROBERT G. ROY On Our Anniversary, July 10, 1971 One sad and lonely six months has passed, Since our great sorrow fell. The shock that we received that day We all remember well. A bitter grief, a shock severe, To part with him we loved so dear. Our loss is great, we'll not complain, But know some day We'll meet again.

Loving Wife Lavaughn data, such as enrollment and college entrance scores, Kalikow said Monday. But Kalikow said it's not fair to ask college presidents to rate peers, especially if they have no firsthand information or rely on dated information. "There's better information available now about student outcomes," she said. "It's time to use that stuff instead of the reputational survey." The university has won good reviews in the magazine's rankings. Last year it was No.

2 in "Top Public Comprehensive Colleges Bachelor's, in the North." Some college students said the efforts by UMF and other colleges to steer U.S. News' ratings in a new direction will probably have little effect on the popularity of the magazine's rankings among prospective students. Joseph Muscarella, a summer resident of Boothbay Harbor, said he used the rankings to find the school of his choice, the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, which he plans to enter this fall. He said he doubts that the rankings make the process more competitive. "America is always going to be competitive, with these rankings or without," he said.

When It Comes To Your Local Community Events, Nobody Does It Better! Journal Tribune who live in the area, said Hillary Roberts, emergency services coordinator for the Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross. "They do have a place to stay, but with eight kids, we anticipate that they will need some help," Roberts said. Friends and neighbors, planned to set up a fund to help the family. THANK YOU GOD Say nine 'Hail Marys' for nine days, and ask for three wishes. First business, second and third forthe impossible.

Have this published on the ninth day, and your wishes will come true, even though you may not believe it. Thank You, God. It's unbelievable but true. L.M.B. In Loving Memory Of RYAN KING Who Passed Away 1 Year Ago July 10, 2006 I miss you more than Words can say, I miss you more each Passing day.

Sweet memories of you Are in my heart, Sweet memories of you Will never depart. I pray that time will go Swiftly by, That soon I will be with you in the Sweet by and by. Love You, Nana, Uncle Jeff and Alison and Family.