FALMOUTH – Isabel Yelland Denham died at home on July 14, surrounded by her family. Survivors include Alison Denham (Tom Quinn), of Portland, Jonathan Denham (Barbara Byrne Denham), of New York City, and Emily Denham (Bruce Swomley), of Thetford, Vermont. Her grandchildren are: Marit, Fiona and Emma Wilson; Liam, Nathan, and Greta Denham, and Hannah, Calvin, and Maggie Swomley.

Isabel was born and raised in Mason City, Iowa, (on which “The Music Man” was based), along with her younger sister Georgia and an older half-sister, Virginia. Their mother, Annie Potter Allen, taught in a one-room schoolhouse and was later a librarian. Their father, George Curtis Yelland, co-owned the Yelland and Hanes bookstore in Mason City. His sudden premature death left Annie to support their daughters by working at the family bookstore, fostering a value of self-sufficiency.

Isabel attended Mason City public schools. She was Valedictorian of her class in 1946. She attended Mason City Junior College for one year and then Grinnell College, where she graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors and met her future husband, Paul F. Denham. They discovered the Unitarian Universalist community there, which became an enduring part of her life. Isabel earned her master’s degree in English at Smith College in 1953. Her thesis subject was Virginia Woolf.

She taught at Kent Place School for Girls in Summit, NJ, then worked as a secretary in the School of Education at NYU, living in Greenwich Village. In September of 1953, she and Paul married and honeymooned on Cape Cod and Nantucket. Their first child was born in Kansas City and their twins in York, Pennsylvania. Subsequently, Isabel and her family lived in Des Moines, in Omaha, and in Scituate, Massachusetts. Isabel worked intermittently as a teacher. She demonstrated with other UU members against the Vietnam War.

In 1971, the Denhams moved to Cape Elizabeth. Isabel taught at the Waynflete School for fifteen years, forming lasting friendships with fellow faculty members. She taught occasional classes at USM. In 1986, Paul and Isabel moved to Yarmouth, becoming active members of the First Universalist Church there. Isabel served as the Director of the Ricker Memorial Library in Poland, Maine, in 1988. From 1989-1994 she was Children’s Librarian at Merrill Memorial Library in Yarmouth, Maine. Not long after his retirement from Continental Insurance and the Maine Bureau of Insurance, Paul died in 1994.

Isabel moved to Ocean View (retirement community) in 2012 and began attending the Allen Avenue UU church. She volunteered in the church library, the Social Action Committee, and the state advocacy network (MUUSAN), receiving an award for her volunteer work. With fellow Maine librarians she reviewed thousands of new children’s and YA books to develop the “Cream of the Crop” list. She also worked on her own writing, including a manuscript about the Shakers.

Isabel loved Star Island (one of the Isles of Shoals), where she attended the International Affairs Conference for many years, beginning in 1986 with Paul. She brought more family members to the island, who came to love Star as well. All her grandchildren attended the International Affairs youth program and seven of them (so far) have served as “Pelicans” (staff) or as volunteers on Star. In her later years, Isabel enjoyed traveling with her sister, Georgia, including to their ancestors’ home in Cornwall as well as to Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia. Aficionados of all kinds of art, she and Georgia also traveled regularly to New York City to enjoy Broadway plays, operas at the Met and museums across the city. Isabel enjoyed swimming, tennis, sewing, knitting, and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She became an avid artist later in her life. Isabel wrote many fierce “letters to the editor,” often on environmental or social justice issues. She loved to read, to do crossword puzzles and to play Scrabble, winning most games, even into her ninety-fifth year.

Isabel was a stoic who weathered numerous health challenges including surgeries, stage III cancer with chemotherapy, cardiac and pulmonary conditions. She defeated COVID as part of the first outbreak in Maine. As a nonagenarian she became discouraged about her declining vision, hearing, and physical health. She actively pursued the option for ‘Death with Dignity,’ but was not able to realize this wish due to the stringency of state law around this right. After suffering a fall with injuries in May of 2023, Isabel chose to return home to Ocean View in early July. The family would like to thank Isabel’s many caregivers, the team at Hospice of Southern Maine, and death doula Molly ‘Bones’ Nelson, for their invaluable support.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 2, at the Allen Avenue UU church in Portland, at 4:00 p.m.





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