SACO — Mary Ellen Black, 80, of Saco, died May 29 at Evergreen Manor in Saco after a brief illness.

She was born in Biddeford on June 28, 1934, the daughter of Jeremiah O. and Mary Evelyn (Grenier) Twomey Sr.

She attended Saco schools, was a 1951 graduate of Thornton Academy and was a member of the first graduating class of the Maine Medical Center School of Nursing in 1954.

Mary Ellen worked as a registered nurse at the former Webber Hospital in Biddeford and in the neonatal intensive care unit of the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. She then worked in the pediatric practice of Drs. Ross, Moore, Page and Belanger in Saco, and finally with Dr. Lyman A. Page in Kennebunk. During that time, she returned to Maine Medical Center to study and earned the title of pediatric nurse associate, an early version of what is now a nurse practitioner. Then, in addition to working for Dr. Page, she conducted physicals at the Well Baby Clinic in Kennebunk. She retired from nursing in the mid 1980s.

She kept busy in her retirement. She worked for a time for The Yarn Shop in Portland and at a couple of similar shops in Freeport. She also volunteered at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport.

Mary Ellen was an accomplished and talented knitter. She knit constantly in her home, and every family member has some creation of hers to wear. She and her husband Bob were some of the founding members of the Stone Soup Artisans store in Saco, where she sold many of her goods. Together they worked many craft shows and were both life members of Southern Maine Craftsmen.

Her husband, Robert M. Black, died in 2012.

She is survived by: her son, John S. Black and his wife Lori of Springvale; her son, Kenneth T. Black of Saco; grandson, Christian J. Black and his wife Monica, and their children Clara and Jameson of Springvale; granddaughter, Callie O. Black and her partner Rhonda Faunce of Elmira, New York; granddaughter, Ruby T. Black of Elmira, New York; several nieces, nephews and cousins; and a special friend, Janice Lane of Saco.

A funeral service will be conducted on Friday at 11 a.m. at the Laurel Hill Cemetery Chapel, 293 Beach Street, Saco, where relatives and friends may call beginning at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in the family lot in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Saco.

Arrangements are under the direction of Black Funeral Homes & Cremation Service, Sanford-Springvale. Condolences can be expressed at www.blackfuneralhomes.com.