ELLSWORTH – Diane C. Guthrie passed away peacefully in Ellsworth and re-joined her husband Tom of 65 years and other beloved family angels on August 24, 2021. She was 92 and lived a happy, productive, and active life. She was born March 12, 1929, at home at the head of Inner Winter Harbor, the first of four children born to Florence and E. Francis Chase. Winter Harbor was a perfect setting for an upbringing that cherished patriotism, love of family, hard work and education. The family temporarily left Winter Harbor during World War II so her parents could support the war effort at a Pratt & Whitney airplane factory in Connecticut; her mother was a Rosie the Riveter. On the family’s return to Maine in 1944, after a year back “on the lane” in Winter Harbor, the family temporarily moved to Ellsworth so the girls could attend Ellsworth High School; her father sold for Fuller Brush and her mother taught at the Pine Street School. After Diane graduated from EHS in 1947, the family returned to Winter Harbor. Her mother worked for families on Grindstone Neck, her father worked in the woods and as a gardener for Mr. Dixon on Grindstone, and she went off to the Washington State Normal School in Machias. She participated in many clubs and activities and earned her teacher’s certificate in 1951. Later, her mother settled in as an educator and then principal/teacher at the Winter Harbor elementary school and in 1963 the family established Chase’s Restaurant. The Chases and their offspring created an indelible mark on Winter Harbor that continues to this day. She met Tom in 1950 while home from college and he was home from sea as a merchant marine. After a year-long courtship and nearly being chased off Schoodic Point by her young suitor, a story she often jokingly shared with the family, she married Tom in June 1951. Diane followed in her mother’s footsteps, started teaching in 1951 in Northeast Harbor, and became a career educator across various positions primarily in Ellsworth over the course of four decades. While raising six children with Tom, she taught school by day and attended night, weekend, and summer school at the University of Maine at Orono to earn a bachelor’s in education in 1963 and a master’s in education in 1972. During her career, Diane taught hundreds of children to read, write and spell and took great pride in the number of kids who didn’t read or didn’t like to read before meeting her determination to convert them. Tom hired many of these same kids and adults as a manager at Doug’s Shop and Save and later the Hannaford store. After their retirement, Diane and Tom moved to a new home on Union River Bay, traveled around the world, enjoyed golf, entertained friends, and lovingly hosted their family, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and extended family. She was an avid bridge player, storyteller, Red Sox fan, cook, reader, knitter, seamstress, quilter, and pickler of vegetables from Tom’s gardens. She belonged to several bridge groups over a 60-year period and cherished her friendships with Celia, Meg, Pop, Mary Louise, Betty, Lorna, Ruth, Loretta, Harriet, Mary K, Mary S, Roberta, Warrene and Jane. Her stories are family legends and just a short phrase (“green sweater”, “language spoken in home”, “she said she knows you fool”, “back up to a buzz saw”, and many others) brought immediate laughter and the story grew on more and more people. She loved the Red Sox and understood baseball but, in spite of watching hundreds of Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish and Patriots games with Tom, she never understood football, an unexplainable paradox for an incredibly brilliant woman.
In addition to her husband and a son, Thomas Jr., she was pre-deceased by her parents, siblings Edward Francis Jr. and Janet, and Janet’s husband, Stanley Fickett, and their son Paul. She was also pre-deceased by a granddaughter’s husband, Michael Joyner; many aunts, uncles, and cousins; her in-laws, Mark and Ada Guthrie; and Tom’s 10 siblings. Diane is survived by her sister Shirley and five children, ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren: daughter Christine and her husband, Joe Beres, of Milo and Cape Canaveral; daughter Emily of Portland and her children, Steven, Morgan (and her husband, Aaron, and their children, William, Adeline and Arthur), Sebastian, and Ethan; daughter-in-law Grace of Thibodaux, LA and her children, Chase (and his wife, Jacey, and their daughter, Eleanor), Christopher, and Dianne; son James and his wife, Sheila, of Sullivan; son Stanley of Trenton and his children, Jasmine (and her daughter, Maya) and Thomas, and their mother, Linda); and son Steven and his wife, Jennifer, and their daughter, Raessler, of Melrose, MA. Diane and Tom were blessed with a large, extended family and in particular close friendships with her late sister Janet’s family (Cindy, Beth, Patricia, David and Paul and their respective families) and the “Downtown Guthries” (Dick and Eleanor and their nine children and respective families). The family invites relatives and friends to celebrate her life. Visiting hours at the Jordan-Fernald, 113 Franklin St., Ellsworth, will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 30. Funeral services will be on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. at the funeral home. Masks will be required for all attendees. Interment will be private at Woodbine Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Diane asked those who would like to commemorate her life to send contributions in her memory to the Friends of the Ellsworth Public Library, 20 State Street, Ellsworth, ME 04605.
Condolences may be expressed on www.jordanfernald.com.