A few years ago, when Frances Knight Marsh was well into her 80s, her family introduced her to a computer.

An inveterate letter writer, Mrs. Marsh was a reluctant computer user at first.

She couldn’t see any compelling reason to switch from the handwritten cards, notes and newsletters she sent out on a daily basis.

But she agreed to try it, and soon she was hooked on the wonders of word processing and firing off e-mails to her far-flung great-grandchildren.

“Now her e-mail contact list far exceeds mine,” said Eben Marsh, her son, of Cape Elizabeth.

Mrs. Marsh died at her home in Gorham on Wednesday night at the age of 92, after a busy day planning her holiday mailing, balancing her checkbook, writing a poem, voting by absentee ballot in the Nov. 2 elections and e-mailing her friends about whether to join Facebook.

“It was as if she just got ready for bed, went to sleep after thinking everything was tended to,” said her son.

Mrs. Marsh, who lived in the home that she and her husband, Maynard, built in Gorham after World War II, was described as a nurturing and enthusiastic supporter of her family.

“She probably spoiled me and did a lot to carry me through the teenage years,” said her brother, Roger Knight of Westbrook, who was 17 years her junior.

After growing up at Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook and graduating from Gorham State Teachers College, Mrs. Marsh went to work as a kindergarten teacher, raising generations of schoolchildren until she retired in 1977.

She kept in touch with many of her students in the years after she taught them.

Mrs. Marsh was always busy.

“If anyone needed to be energized, they would go visit her,” said her daughter-in-law, Judy Marsh, of West Gardiner.

Her family called her an unstoppable knitter.

Last year, she knitted matching hats for every member – and the coach – of her great-granddaughter’s soccer team. She also turned out stacks of her signature brightly colored hats for the Denmark School and the church bazaar.

A stack of hats is ready for another three or four Christmas fairs this year.

“Her fingers never stopped,” said Judy Marsh.

Mrs. Marsh was a talented decorative painter and a professional potter who produced earthy pieces under the name Pasture Pottery.

Many of her family members – including six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren – use some of her pottery in their homes.

She was a nature photographer and maintained a roomful of dolls that she restored with her late daughter, Mary Marsh.

She also baked fresh muffins to serve to the guests who frequently stopped by.

“Her friend, Sandra Page, always said, ‘Frances makes you feel like the most pleasant gift received when you walk in the door,’ ” said her son.

Her sister-in-law Sally Knight of Westbrook said she will always picture Mrs. Marsh at her summer camp on Sand Pond in Denmark.

She would spend her days on summer vacation rowing her children around the pond to fish and watch nature.

“Those were good times for us,” said Sally Knight.

 

Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at: bquimby@pressherald.com

 

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