Miriam Eloise (Marsh) Barteaux PORTLAND - Miriam Eloise (Marsh) Barteaux (an outrageous older woman) died on October 13, 2014 at the Barron Center in Portland, after battling progressive dementia for many years. She led a fascinating life and was a force with which to be reckoned. Miriam was born on Jan. 29, 1925 to Raeburne Lyndon Marsh and Alberta Philbrick (Shepherd) Marsh in Pittsfield. (She told her children that she was born in a parking lot, as the Baptist parsonage where she was born was subsequently bulldozed into a parking lot for Maine Central Institute.) As a young girl, she moved to Portland. In 1942, Miriam graduated from Deering High School (to which her children were required to bow when passing by), and in 1946, she earned her bachelors in biology from Colby College (to which her children bowed down just in case). While at Colby, she met and married Robert (Bob) Albert Barteaux. Miriam earned her masters degree in botany from the University of Maine at Orono while Bob finished his bachelors degree at Colby. The young couple then moved to North Carolina where Miriam taught at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, while Bob worked on his masters degree. In the early 1950s, Miriam and Bob moved to Vienna, Virginia, then to Frankfurt, Germany, back to Vienna, back to Frankfurt, and back to Vienna again, during which time, they both worked for the CIA and had four children. While living in Germany they took their kids camping in many, many countries, just so the kids could experience Europe. Upon returning to Virginia for the last time, Miriam began working at Holly Hall, a home for handicapped children. Her experience there helped her to decide to return to school (at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.) to work toward a doctoral degree in special education. Miriam had several jobs while going to school, but her children are unsure of the exact sequence. Some of what her kids can remember is listed here: Miriam worked as an elementary school teacher in Prince Georges County, Md., where she was fired for bringing food to school each day to feed her kids before she tried to teach them. She was later reinstated and the school breakfast program was started! Also during this period, Miriam taught special education to undergraduates at George Washington University, and, during the summer, she was an audiovisual librarian at the Fairfax County Library. (Of her many jobs, audiovisual librarian was her childrens favorite job, as Miriam was able to bring home movies to watch.) Somewhere during this time, Miriam earned her realtors license and was a realtor in northern Virginia for a short time. Miriam never finished her dissertation for a doctorate, but she did earn a second masters degree in special education from George Washington University in 1976. Miriam then became a principal at a school for autistic children in Maryland. She fought for the Equal Rights Amendment and marched on Washington with Bella Abzug. In 1977, Miriam and Bob divorced. In 1979, Miriam moved back to Maine to become the teacher on Monhegan Island in their one room schoolhouse, teaching there until 1981. In 1981, Miriam moved back to her childhood home in Portland to take care of her mother. During this period of her life she worked for the Noyes Home for mentally handicapped men and for the Eunice Frye home as an aide. She also became a licensed massage therapist and a weaver of wool rugs for a local weaving company. She took courses to become a legal aide (although her children are unsure if she finished her course work). She portrayed Granny Fuller at the Norlands Living Museum Center, and was a hospice volunteer as well as a volunteer at the Barron Center. This was the time of her life when she started donating puppies to and raising puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. She also started the Puccini Project - a project to introduce dogs into nursing homes. Miriam purchased land on Peaks Island with the intention of building a house, but ended up selling the land and buying a little fixer-upper house in South Portland near to what is now the Southern Maine Community College. Along with others, she fought for and won pension rights for foreign-service spouses. She was a docent for the Spring Point Lighthouse Museum. She was also the driver for the Berrigan brothers during their protest attack on Bath Iron Works. Her children were always afraid that one day they would get the call - not that she had died, but that she was in jail. Her children arent entirely sure when dementia started to set in (probably because they are a little demented themselves.) Miriam had such a great support system - lots of great neighbors and friends that watched out for her and kept an eye on her. The love from her family and friends sustained her for a long time. However, in 2005, it was necessary for her daughter, Leslie, to move to South Portland to live with Miriam, and in 2007, Miriam suffered from a couple of seizures that caused her to have to move to the Barron Center in Portland where she lived until her death. Between her daughter, Leslie, and the extraordinarily kind and helpful staff at the Barron Center, Miriam was cared for very well and loved. Although it is hard to believe Miriam had time, she had several hobbies. She loved to crochet, garden, travel, and learn new things. She went on several Elder Hostel trips including one to missile silos in Wyoming, one to Teton Science School, also in Wyoming, one at which she built a log cabin in Minnesota, one in which she floated a canoe down a part of the Missouri. She also traveled to many places including Greece, Ireland, Mexico, and many other countries (particularly while living in Germany). Miriam was preceded in death by her parents, her ex-husband, Bob, and her numerous and much-loved dogs. She is survived by her brother, John Marsh and his wife Bonnie; her sister-in-law and friend, Margaret Barteaux; her four children, Leslie Barteaux, Heidi Maddox and her husband, Bill, Wendy Barteaux and her husband, Kim Wilbert, and Tim Barteaux; two grandchildren, Christy (Maddox) Lanzen and her husband, Scott, and Rob Maddox and his wife, Micah; and six great-grandchildren, Alia, Reena, and Jericka Lanzen, and Hannah, Madalyn, and Jaxon Maddox; nephews David Marsh, and Greg Barteaux and his wife, Rachel, and nieces Diane Barteaux, and Peggy Campbell and her husband, Jim, and all their children and grandchildren. Miriam had a wonderful influence on many, many people. Her children have decided to have a Celebration of Life next summer. They ask that you send them a message indicating how Miriam affected your life to: The Barteaux Family, P.O. Box 2185, South Portland, Maine 04116. Please include your snail mail and email addresses (if you have email) so that Miriams children can contact you to let you know when Miriams celebration will be. If you wish, please make donations in her memory to: Alzheimers Association Maine Chapter 383 U.S. Route One, Suite 2 C Scarborough, Maine 04074 or to: Barron Centers Recreation Fund 1145 Brighton Avenue Portland, Maine 04103
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 12:54:51 +0000
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