Beverly “Bev” Husson Callender

PORTLAND – Beverly “Bev” Husson Callender, 88, passed away peacefully Nov. 13, 2025 in Portland.

Bev was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who lived her life as if it were an adventure, and was always curious about what the world had to offer.

She was born in 1937 in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Lillian Demers and Franklin Husson. Both her parents came from large families that had emigrated to the US from Canada. She grew up during World War II, and six of her uncles served in the armed forces. She was particularly close to her paternal grandfather, Luther Husson, who had been a sea captain and carpenter. She grew up in Manchester, New Hampshire where her father was the owner of a glass company, Acme Glass. She attended Bakersville Elementary school, then moved onto Manchester Central High School, graduating in 1955. The friendships she made at Bakersville were lifelong with the “Bakerville kids” getting together throughout their lives. Her friends Lynn McFarland and Arthur Genest carry on this tradition to this day.

She attended Bates College in Lewiston, graduating in 1959 with a degree in psychology. Her college years were active and memorable. She was elected Betty Bates and the Carnival Queen. In the summer of 1957, she travelled to Europe visiting multiple countries and having many adventures. Her “nights in Florence” or “the time she and her friends accidentally drove through the border crossing” are the stuff of legend within the family.

Her Bates friendships, similar to her friends from Bakersville, were lifelong with a core group that remained in touch throughout their lives. They raised their children together, enjoyed their retirements together and have connected often for more than 65 years. Carol and Jack Flynn and Elwin Guthrie are among this cherished group.

After college she worked as a social worker with the New Hampshire Children’s Aid Society in Manchester, New Hampshire, and later Children’s Friends Society in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1960, she married a fellow Bates student, Willard “Will” Callender, the love of her life, and her work in “children’s aid” became more personal. She and Will were married 65 years and raised three children together; Anne, Peter and Catherine.

There were many places they called home as they built their careers and family together; a converted chicken coop in Storrs Connecticut, while Will was in Graduate School; the triple-decker on Linden Street in Portland, when Will was employed at the University of Maine in Portland; the Victorian two-family house on Lenox Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, with the cast iron fence and huge yard. At this time Will was a professor at Clark University and the children started school there.

Then, there was the home in Columbia Falls, Maine, with a barn, picket fence, and acres of land on the Pleasant River. Will was teaching at University of Maine Machias, and she was transforming a big crazy house into a place where her children could explore the world. In Columbia Falls, that meant exploring forests and blueberry barrens and building forts in the woods.

In 1972, they moved to Margaret Street in South Portland Maine, which became Bev’s “landscape for living” for the next 46 years. This was the house that was the backdrop to not only her children’s lives, but her cherished grandchildren’s lives too. the Grammie Camps, the Girl Scout troops, the endless meals for hungry athletes and of course the legendary Christmas Eve parties. Never one to think her surroundings couldn’t use at least a “little” improvement, she renovated the house often, and well. Just like life, her house had eras. And just like Bev, her house had style.

Beginning in the mid-1970s she returned to her social work roots and started a career as a Rental Assistance Administrator, first at South Portland Housing Authority, then York-Cumberland Housing Authority, now called Avesta, culminating in the position of Housing Administrator for the City of Biddeford, Maine. While passionately dedicated to her clients, her time there also included much fun with her city hall buddies in creative uses of the Saco River.

As she neared retirement, the Grandparenting stage of her life began with the birth of Lance, and continued with the birth of Mariah, Hannah, Lilliana, and Marina.

She dedicated years to the art of “Creative Grandparenting”. With each of them she became a co-explorer of the world, creating mini expeditions to libraries, or to parks, or to museums, or to beaches. She loved experiencing life with them. It can not be overstated how important seeing her grandchildren grow meant to her. She enjoyed seeing them mature into fine human beings. In recent years, Bev has felt great delight in the arrival of six great-grandchildren.

Bev and Will enjoyed a rich retirement together. They traveled to many places including Quebec, Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes. For nearly two decades they made a yearly trip to Florida for the winter months. They wore out two sets of bicycles exploring the State trails of Florida. They explored new subjects in Elderhostels, enjoyed photography and sketching and combined their efforts in a form of art they called Inkagraphs, which combined Will’s photography with Bev’s sketching.

Bev made “living” an artform and treated life as a gift. She would scoff at the label but she was an artist in every way. She weaved friendships and connections throughout life that were as rich as spun silk and just as strong. She lived a life with humor and understanding, with shared experiences and witty insights. Her life was truly a well-lived, well-loved life and she will be greatly missed by those who knew her.

Bev was predeceased by her parents, Lillian Demers Husson, and Franklin Husson, her brother Richard “Dick” Husson, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Gloria and John Luciano, and her nephew Jack Luciano.

She is survived by her husband Will Callender, her cousin (whom she considered her sister) Donna Conway, her sister-in-law Mercedes Husson, godson Richard “Dick” Donovan, her daughter Anne Callender, son-in-law Joe Delaney, her son Peter Callender, daughter-in-law Jennifer McGowan, her daughter Catherine Callender, son-in-law Roberto Brandão, nephews Micheal, David and William Husson, nephews James and Charles Luciano, grandchildren Lance Callender and wife Caitlyn Callender, Mariah Guimond and husband Samson Guimond, Hannah Callender and fiancé Scotty Bresette, Lilliana Brandão, and Marina Brandão, great-grandchildren, Samson, Lucas and Travis Guimond, Wren and Sloane Beverly Callender, and Lainey Bresette.

There will be a memorial service for Bev at Hobbs Funeral Home in South Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. Visiting Hours 9-11 a.m. Service at 11 a.m., and a reception after.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the UN Refugee Agency – give.unrefugees.org