Margret “Peggy” Farr of Cumberland Foreside, a registered nurse at Maine Medical Center in Portland who had a passion for life, died Saturday after a seven-year fight with cancer. She was 67.
Mrs. Farr joined Maine Medical Center in 1969 and worked in the float pool and critical care units. For more than 20 years, she was a nursing supervisor on the night shift. In recent years, she was the bed manager, overseeing the hospital’s 634 beds.
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“She was basically our traffic controller for placement of patients in the appropriate level of care,” said Rich Petersen, president and chief executive officer of Maine Med. “She did it with thoughtfulness and grace and absolutely a calmness about her. I always admired her. She had a tremendous work ethic. She is someone who will be missed by everyone.”
Mrs. Farr, who retired in 2012, was remembered by nurses as dedicated, “cool, calm and collected.”
“She was one of the most well-loved nurses at Maine Med,” said Julie Carrell, the oldest of her three daughters. “After she retired, many of her nurse friends would say, ‘We miss your mother. She always took care of everything.’ They could always count on her to be there. She was like that as a mother.”
Carrell talked about the family’s early years Monday. She made the children’s clothes and most of their Halloween costumes. She would volunteer at their schools during the day, and then go work the night shift.
“She made our lives special,” her daughter said. “She was always there when we needed her. She never missed a birthday or a graduation. I could always count on her. If my son fell and bit his tongue, I could call my mother. She would know what to do. If I had a bad day at work, I could call her. She would understand.”
A highlight of Mrs. Farr’s life was spending time at the family cottage on Bonny Eagle Pond. She and her husband bought the cottage 30 years ago. Carrell said they spent every summer there growing up.
‘It was a haven for her,” Carrell said. “She enjoyed nature. She loved listening to the loons. She loved watching the sunsets. It was her favorite place to be with the family. She was the chief cook and chief activity officer. All the kids learned to swim with her.”
Mrs. Farr and her husband, Richard, had a close relationship with their grandchildren.
“She was such a fun Grammy,” Carrell said. “She would go blueberry picking and make muffins. She would go swimming, sledding, water-tubing on the boat with them. She would go into the water with the kids when it was too cold for us. She could never say no.”
Mrs. Farr died on Saturday, the first day of summer. When her body was removed from Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, the sun appeared for a moment. As her body was placed into the hearse, the sun hid again behind the clouds.
The family is planning to scatter Mrs. Farr’s ashes at Bonny Eagle Pond this summer.
Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:
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