Hazel Briggs Marple

PORTLAND – It is with a mix of sadness and joy that we share that on Nov. 24, 2024, at age 105, Hazel Briggs Marple passed from this life and, as promised by Jesus in John 11:25-26, has begun her everlasting life in Heaven.

Hazel was born in Havelock, Nova Scotia, Canada, Sept 13, 1919. After moving with her family throughout New Brunswick and northern Maine, Hazel graduated from Eastern Nazarene Academy in Quincy, Mass., and then from Bryant Stratton Business College in Boston. Boston remained one of her favorite places on earth. After her wedding, she and husband George Marple, a US Air Force pilot who served in the Strategic Air Command, zigzagged across the United States, from USAF base to base.

Eventually, in 1964, Hazel settled in Endicott, NY for 35 years where she was “The Voice of Burt’s Department Store.” In 1999, Hazel moved to southern Maine (Cumberland Center and Portland) where she lived with her youngest daughter and family for 20 years before moving to The Cedars.

Her grandson Zack reflects that she “lived her life kindly and with such sweetness. She had a heart for animals, a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature, and such empathy that burned bright in an often apathetic world… She was beloved and we will not forget her laugh.” Hazel was loved by all who knew her, was grateful and gracious, and was a good listener. Her steadfast faith in Jesus sustained her throughout her life. She was a faithful prayer warrior.

The family wishes to thank her caregivers who made the end of her life so blessed: Her son Randy, the Stewart Center in Falmouth, Northern Light Home Care, The Cedars of Portland, and Northern Light Hospice.

Hazel was predeceased by her parents the Reverend Perley and Mabel Rae (Dunlop) Briggs; her sisters and brothers-in-law Glenna and Homer Smith, Reta and Walter Hiller, many relatives including her niece Mitzi Hiller Crowe; cousin Vesta Dunlop Mullen; son-in-law Sandy Aldrich; nephew Jerry McCloy; and great granddaughter Olivia Rae McCue.

She is survived by her children Connie Rae Aldrich (Rocky Point, NY), Randy Marple (Cumberland Center, Maine), and Holly Joy Groom (husband Robert- of Cumberland, Maine, and Bomet, Kenya). Also, her grandchildren Trish Aldrich Volz, Xen Aldrich Blake, the Groom kids, Zack, Sarah, Jesse, Hannah, and Jake, and Joe Marple. Hazel had nine great grandchildren, Amber, Frank, Matt, Josh, Jacob, Emma Hazel, Ethan, Isaiah, and Ezra.

Hazel will be interred in Otis Cemetery, New Brunswick, in the summer of 2025.

You may offer your condolences or share your memories online at http://www.advantageportland.com

Donations may be made to your favorite animal shelter or to her beloved summer place as a child:

Beulah Camp

229 Beulah Road

Browns Flat,

New Brunswick E5M 2RS Canada