Sign In:


Melanie Creamer is a news assistant, who's worked at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram for nearly 16 years. She oversees various responsibilities from monitoring the news and business email addresses – to fetching old newspaper articles and photos from the archive. She’s the face behind the popular business “On the Move” column, which appears in Tuesdays and Thursdays newspapers. A compassionate and soft-spoken woman, Melanie is also the writer of the newspaper’s feature obituary. Many of her colleagues say she has one of the toughest jobs in the newsroom. She tells heart-breaking stories of love and loss. She listens as parents sob uncontrollably over the tragic death of their child. She writes touching stories about couples who have been married for 60 plus years, and then die within days or weeks from each other. Melanie was the recipient of the Maine Press Association’s Unsung Hero Award in 2015. A native of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, she graduated from Fitchburg State College in 2000 with a degree in professional writing. She lives in Scarborough with her fiancée and is a co-parent to two daughters.

Latest
  • Published
    November 16, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Jason Whitaker, 39, loved by family and friends, fellow employees

    GORHAM — More than 300 of Jason Whitaker’s relatives and friends packed DiMillo’s On The Water in Portland on Friday to celebrate and honor a man they say affected so many people in such a short life. His friends threw a fundraiser called “Jakeaplooza,” which featured food, live music, and an auction with roughly 150 […]

  • Published
    November 9, 2011

    Grace Kerry McNally, 99, beloved Saco matriarch, librarian

    SACO – Grace Kerry McNally, a children’s librarian at Dyer Library in Saco for 35 years, dedicated her life to family and inspired thousands of people who participated in the popular Mary’s Walk and Kerrymen Pub Road Race. The family founded Mary’s Walk in 1999 to honor her daughter, Mary Kerry Libby, who died of […]

  • Published
    November 3, 2011

    Feature obituary: Armand Talbot, 74, ‘very passionate’ about town of Sanford

    SANFORD – Armand Talbot was a regular at Town Council meetings who wasn’t afraid to criticize town officials about budget issues or controversial decisions relating to the airport or Estes Lake. At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Mr. Talbot questioned a proposal to relocate the fuel depot at the airport. He was not in favor of […]

  • Published
    November 2, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Carter Furber, 74, veteran York math teacher who ‘put kids first’

    YORK — Carter Furber was a dedicated teacher at York High School and a longtime basketball referee, who inspired generations of students in and out of the classroom. A lifelong resident of York, he graduated from York High School in 1954 and went on to teach math there for nearly 30 years. “He was a […]

  • Published
    November 1, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Ellen Parady, 79, compassionate woman who had a zest for life

    GRAY – For many years during the Vietnam War, Ellen Parady watched her husband and other Navy sailors ship out from Norfolk, Va., to serve their country. Family and friends cheered as a military band played patriotic music. The wives held their children close, crying and shouting their final goodbyes and I love you’s to […]

  • Published
    October 23, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Sharon Howard, 60, devoted teacher and loving mother

    Correction: This obituary was updated at 11:15 a.m., Oct. 24, 2011, to correct the date of a family celebration for Ms. Howard. Her family and friends will gather Oct. 29 at Howard’s oceanside camp in South Thomaston to scatter her ashes and celebrate her life. BAR HARBOR – Sharon Howard fought her illness with grace […]

  • Published
    October 21, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Jeffrey Campbell, 52, ‘father figure’ at Long Creek youth center

    Jeffrey Campbell, a supervisor at Long Creek Youth Development Center, died Wednesday.

  • Published
    October 20, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Paul ‘Bud’ Flaherty, longtime popular, dedicated NYA teacher

    It was 1974. A small group of students at North Yarmouth Academy sat in a classroom waiting for their history teacher, Paul Flaherty, to arrive. “We were watching the clock, recalled Lincoln Merrill, a 1975 graduate of NYA. “All of the sudden the door opens and we hear this clatter, clatter of something skittering across […]

  • Published
    October 15, 2011

    John Gerity, 88, retired railroad executive, devoted family man

    SOUTH PORTLAND – John Gerity rose from humble beginnings as a railroad messenger to become president of Maine Central Railroad and later vice chairman of the board of directors for what is now Guilford Transportation Industries. Though he achieved great success in his career, nothing overshadowed the love and devotion he had for his family. […]

  • Published
    October 14, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Hilton Libby, 84, hardworking salesman and family man

    BATH –Hilton Libby was a longtime salesman for American Steel and Aluminum Corp., who had a successful career selling its product to businesses across the midcoast. Though his career was an important part of his life, nothing meant more to him than spending time with his wife, especially on the golf course. Mr. Libby died […]