Rosalie Elizabeth Preble Barden

GORHAM – Rosalie Preble Barden, 96, of Gorham, passed peacefully at home on July 29, 2023. Rosalie was a renowned watercolor artist, teacher, singer, and traveler.

She was born in Bath on Sept. 22, 1926, to Clarence Appleton Preble and Grace Gertrude Shea Preble. She married Richard Thomas Barden, Gorham pharmacist, on Sept. 4, 1949. They were married 70 years before Richard passed in 2019.

Rosalie taught art in the Gorham Schools and was an associate professor at USM and at St. Joseph’s College. She was an active member of the First Parish Congregational UCC Church in Gorham since 1948.

She is survived by her three children, Michael Barden, Terrilynn Barden Dubreuil, and Gregory Barden; her half-sister, Grace Ellen Preble Sawyer and her half-brother, Clarence A. Preble “Chip”; 10 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren.

A memorial celebration will be held at the First Parish Church in Gorham on Sept. 23, 1 p.m.


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