There will be a remembrance service for Rachel Lowe Payne Craig on Sunday, August 24, 1:00PM at The Cotton Mill Appartments, 2 Academy Street in Hallowell, Maine.
Rachel Lowe Payne Craig, 85, died August 13, 2008, at her home in Hallowell.
She was born on the Riverview Farm in Shawmut on November 21, 1922, in the home of her grandfather, the very same room her mother and grandfather were born in. She was the daughter of Doris Low Payne and Basil T. Payne.
She moved to Birmingham, Ala., as an infant where she spent the first nine years of her life, returning to Maine and the farm during the depression. She graduated from Cony High School and attended Colburn Classical Institute and Catherine Gibbs in Boston. She joined the Marine Corps in 1943. She was the first woman from Maine to join the Marine Corps. She was assigned to boot camp at Hunters College and then to Quartermaster School at Camp Lejeunne, N.C. She married Marine Corps Bandsman Anthony D. Cake. She lived in Port Royal and Parris Island, then to Treasure Island, San Francisco and Fallbrook, Calif., before returning to Maine with her three sons.
She began a 20-year career in the American Red Cross, both as an executive secretary of the Augusta Chapter and then later in the Gardiner Chapter. She served as a disaster caseworker in New Orleans during Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and also in Hull, Mass. Among other positions she served as a volunteer consultant and managed the statewide Project Find effort. She always felt her years in the south had made her become more aware of civil and human rights issues. She spent most of her life becoming involved with various organizations for the improvement of civil and human rights.
She married in 1961 to the Rev. Joseph Ira Craig. She served as president of the Women’s Legislative Council of Maine, Hallowell Citizens Association for Youth development and formed the Hallowell Associates for the Arts, a group that did the architectural inventory that proceeded the placing of Hallowell in a historic district. She also chaired Old Hallowell Days for several years. She served on the Board of Directors for PALS.
Her interest ranged widely; she loved animals and especially cats. Her last cat, B.P., was a great comfort to her. She loved gardening, both in Hallowell and at her camp. She served as librarian at Good Will School in Hinckley. She continued as cheerleader for their basketball games until she died.
She was also an active member of Augusta Women in Black who were dedicated to promoting peace.
Rachel was predeceased by her mother, Doris Low Payne, who died in 2004; her father, Basil T. Payne, who died in 1978; her sister, Jeanne Blaisdell, who died in 2003; and her companion for many years, Nason Corey, who died in 2000.
She is survived by her brother, Norman A. Payne of Florida; sons Daniel T. Cake and his companion, Karen Thompson, of Auburn, Jeffery and his wife, Laura Cake, of Bar Harbor, and Basil and his wife, Mia Cake; daughter Leslie and her husband, Rudy Flores, of Augusta; nieces Deborah Adams of South Gardiner, Penelope and her husband, Galen Rackley, of North Monmouth, and Mary and her husband, Brian Dennett, of Costa Rica; nephews James and his wife, Linda Archer, of Florida, and Mark Payne of New Zealand; grandsons Judson Cake and Theodore Cake of Bar Harbor, Aaron and his wife, Dana Cake, of Florida; granddaughters Katrina and her husband, David Kornylo, of Canada, Lina and her husband, Sean Raye, of Augusta, and Jenny Cake of Augusta; four great-grandchildren, Amber Raye, Whitney Keliher, Heather and Daniel Kornylo; 15 great-nieces and great-nephews as well as great-great-nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Good Will-Hinckley, P.O. Box 159, Hinckley, ME for a scholarship fund.
