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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
    February 18, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Elaine Cook, 85, co-owner of Cook’s Lobster House

    BAILEY ISLAND – Elaine Cook’s family remembers her as a strong and independent woman who had entrepreneurial spirit and a zest for life. Soon after moving to Bailey Island in the late 1940s, she persuaded her husband, Maurice Cook, to buy a house on Garrison Cove for $7,500. Together, they founded Cook’s Lobster Pound and […]

  • Published
    February 17, 2011

    Feature obituary: J. Willis Watkins, 95, insurer, golfer, church leader

    PORTLAND — J. Willis Watkins, a co-founder of the Anderson-Watkins Insurance Agency in Westbrook who had a passion for golf and generously gave back to the community, died on Tuesday. He was 95. Mr. Watkins began his career as an insurance agent for Liberty Mutual in Boston. In 1944, he moved to Maine and took […]

  • Published
    February 16, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Ernest Todd Jr., 86, an insurance man who loved to build

    GORHAM — Ernest Todd Jr. had a long career in the insurance industry, but if someone asked him what he did for a living, he usually called himself a builder. Mr. Todd spent more than 20 years at Allstate insurance, retiring as a manager who helped set up independent agencies in Maine. He also built […]

  • Published
    February 12, 2011

    Feature obituary: Edwin Oliver, 101, longtime Burnham & Morrill worker

    SOUTH PORTLAND – Edwin Oliver, a retired safety manager for Burnham & Morrill Co. and longtime trustee of the South Portland Church of the Nazarene, died Jan. 27. He was 101. Mr. Oliver began working at the B&M Baked Beans factory in Portland in 1926. He started his career baking beans and steadily worked his […]

  • Published
    February 10, 2011

    Feature obituary: The Rev. Robert Frederich, 83, served as a pastor for 60 years

    RAYMOND – The Rev. Robert Frederich, a former senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Portland who dedicated his life to helping people develop a relationship with God, died Saturday. He was 83. The Rev. Frederich served as pastor for churches in California, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado and Maine for about 60 years. He joined First […]

  • Published
    February 9, 2011

    Yarmouth students bringing clean, clear water to Haiti

    Middle school students in Yarmouth raise money to buy filtration systems for an orphanage in Haiti.

  • Published
    February 9, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Ruth Merrill, 7, ‘amazing’ girl who won over many

    BATH — Family and friends of 7-year-old Ruth Merrill struggled Tuesday to find words to describe how a girl with so many physical disabilities touched so many people in such a short life. “She was literally the light of God on this earth,” said her mother, Meadow Merrill of Bath. “We met her when she […]

  • Published
    February 8, 2011

    Feature Obituary: John Hubbard, 88, former fire chief in Limington

    LIMINGTON — John Hubbard, who was a founder and former chief of the Limington Fire Department and ran a popular convenience store for 22 years, died Saturday. He was 88. Mr. Hubbard was one of the first volunteers for the fire department, which he and a few other men started in 1952. He was a […]

  • Published
    February 4, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Chester W. Merrifield Jr., 79, longtime Hannaford truck driver

    GORHAM – Chester W. Merrifield Jr., a longtime truck driver for Hannaford Bros. who went on to start his own business hauling sand and gravel, died Tuesday. He was 79. Mr. Merrifield was a truck driver for Hannaford for nearly 20 years, delivering food to grocery stores throughout northern New England. His son Chester W. […]

  • Published
    February 2, 2011

    Feature Obituary: Marc Bellefeuille, 60, loving family man, dedicated firefighter

    BIDDEFORD — Hundreds of firefighters are expected to gather Friday to celebrate and honor Marc Bellefeuille, retired deputy fire chief in Biddeford, who died unexpectedly Sunday. Mr. Bellefeuille, 60, joined the Biddeford Fire Department in 1972 as a call firefighter. He rose through the ranks, then left the department in 1998 to be fire chief […]