FALMOUTH – Lindsay W. Niles, 71, of Falmouth, Maine, passed away peacefully early September 23, 2019, surrounded by loved ones after a courageous nine-month battle with cholangiocarcinoma.

Lindsay was born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Clifford and Annelea Hanson. She graduated from Lynnfield High School before attending Fisher Junior College and Boston University.

Lindsay met the love of her life, Larry Niles, in 1966. She was hitchhiking back to Boston with a girlfriend; Larry was doing the same on his way to a concert. Saugus Circle may have been leveled, but it will always be the genesis of a lifetime of love, adventure and happiness for two young people who serendipitously met in the back of a laundry truck. The rest, as they say, is history.

The dust never settled under Lindsay’s feet. If she wasn’t doing something productive, she wasn’t happy. Lindsay and Larry married on September 7, 1968, while Larry was completing his senior year at Bowdoin College. She helped support them by working at Jay Brush and doing the ironing for Larry’s fraternity brothers in Chi Psi. The time spent at Chi Psi was happy and, to say the least, memorable although not necessarily always repeatable. Many a weekend found her dancing to the Rolling Stones with Larry and her many Chi Psi friends as she refined her Thumper skills. Indeed, she continued to have close friendships with several fraternity brothers and their wives.

After Larry’s graduation and while he taught at Dirigo High School in Dixfield, Lindsay worked at Diamond Match in Dixfield, a year affording many trips to Saddleback and Sugarloaf and also yielding some humorous stories about her work assignments in the Diamond Match factory. Once back in Portland and now a mother, she started a home daycare which allowed her to be home while her own family grew. Her pregnancies and prenatal care instilled an appreciation for and devotion to the Lamaze method of childbirth. She became a childbirth educator, training and coaching many couples both before and during their births.

She worked for a period at General Electric Credit and then as a secretary for the legal firm of Vogel, Toole & Saxby. But Lindsay really blossomed when she became Secretary at South Portland’s Small School where she was a key component of that school’s climate of success. For over 20 years she was a passionate and devoted advocate for the Small School children and parents. She treated the students as her own and always strove to instill positive qualities in them and, when necessary, allay their fears and comfort their hurts. The Secretary Office always had a warm smile and a comforting voice (along of course with the blue “sit down and relax” couch for the distraught child and the proverbial waste basket when the child’s stomach just wouldn’t cooperate). Lindsay wanted each child to develop their full potential and gain confidence in their abilities and she spent each working day toward those goals. Of course, any mention of her Small School days would be remiss in not mentioning her filing “system” which to this day continues to confound her co-workers and her family.

From the so-called ‘booze cruises’ Lindsay organized on Casco Bay Lines, to the infamous Sunday Dinners with Kitty and Monique, to her shall we say frugal group dinners (“come to our house but by the way don’t forget to bring the appetizers, food, drinks and dessert”), to her near pathological love of France (if you knew her at all then it’s likely she asked if you wanted to go with her to Paris or Nice where she would regale you with the glories of cheap French wine, Roman ruins and perched villages), she did not do anything halfway. Her indoctrination into France and French culture can be blamed on her sister-in-law Kathy Wiklund who was living in Europe with Erik when she invited Lindsay to visit. That tour through Switzerland and France and on later trips through Luxembourg, Germany and France with her three daughters set the hook. It became the norm that each return featured spare suitcase(s) crammed with French wine and usually a new striped shirt. Over a dozen such striped tops were accumulated and she was known as much for her French stripes as for her love of travel, and to be referred to as the “Portland Mime” by a few friends. Lindsay was a de facto French chamber of commerce, such that a former employer who traveled with Lindsay now owns two homes in France while a close friend has already booked an immersion trip back to Cassis after her retirement.

Lindsay’s joie de vivre knew no bounds. Many weekends found the family in Bethel skiing and dining with the Browns and enjoying their many friends. Summertime was Lindsay’s joy and she wanted everyone she loved to experience it with her. For years, she orchestrated family vacations to the Green Bean at Higgins Beach, which allowed her to display her love of cooking, entertaining, and (along with Larry’s mom) be a locus for family gatherings and continuity. Beginning at age 11, she spent her summers at her family’s summer camp on Whitney Pond in Oxford, ME. Eventually she and Larry purchased the camp and began to teach their own children and grandchildren the unique joys of summer in Maine and living life in the slow lane. The shore opposite the camp was christened “Pirate Beach” where many happy hours were spent in the late afternoon with all the family (and of course our Golden Retriever) frolicking in the water, eating popcorn, and watching the sunset. Spending quality time with her grandchildren while watching them learn to row a boat, catch their first fish, waterski/tube, or jumping off the raft brought Nana joy beyond words.

Vacation with Larry at the Buccaneer in Saint Croix competed with her love of France. Indeed, it was difficult to match her look of contentment as she sat on the veranda of the Buccaneer drinking a rum punch while gazing over the turquoise Caribbean after the nearly twelve-hour trip from Maine. Life was good and the memories timeless but France was her muse.

Even as she was battling cancer and having already taken more than 30 trips to her beloved adopted country, Lindsay still was booked into an October trip to Nice with dear friends DonaVee, Leslie and Sandy. Lindsay was an indomitable spirit with a take charge attitude who valued honesty, integrity and loyalty above all. She was a passionate and loving soul who devoted her life to her immediate family as well as an extended “family” that included Small School staff, parents and students along with dear friends from J’s Oyster.

Lindsay is survived by her husband of 51 years, Larry Niles of Falmouth. Maine. She will be forever missed by daughters Kelley Holmes and her husband Brandon of Falmouth ME, Courtney Jarmon and her husband Mike of Howell NJ, and Hayley Niles and her partner Mike of Bangor ME. She is also survived by grandchildren Benjamin, Lauren, Vivianne, Caroline, Harrison, and Carissa; sister Hollis Acres of Haverhill MA; sisters-in-law Kathleen Wiklund and Maureen Cyr of Scarborough, along with many cousins and nephews.

Lindsay’s family would like to thank Doctors Matthew Dugan and Mark Wrona and especially the Treatment Room staff of New England Cancer Specialists as well as the staff at Gosnell Hospice House for their extraordinary care of and compassion for Mom and our family (including Lindsay’s much-loved Golden Retriever, Liam).

Visiting hours will be on Sunday, October 13 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland, followed by a Celebration of Life and Love from 2 p.m.-4 p.m., at Willows, 740 Broadway, South Portland.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

Donations may be made to

Hospice of Southern Maine

180 US Route One

Scarborough ME 04074

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