Marihalie Leeman Obituary (1929 - 2022)

1929 – 2022 FREEPORT - Marihalie Browning Leeman was born December 20, 1929, in Millersville Alabama. Her father was John Daniel, and her mother was Dora Lee Lowry Browning. As a small child the family moved to Ashland, Alabama. Marihalie graduated from Clay County High School and attended Auburn University. She worked for the American Agricultural Chemical Company in Montgomery, Alabama and the Anniston Memorial Hospital in Anniston, Alabama. Her sense of adventure led her to the FBI in Washington D. C. Marihalie Leeman met Bill Leeman, the love of her life, in Washington D.C. while she was working for the FBI. The first time she was in a canoe was with Bill on the Potomac. After some time in Anniston, Alabama they moved to Machias, Maine to be near Bill’s family. Marihalie did not work outside the house until her daughters were older and she worked for the State of Maine Department of Human Services. Every summer Bill and Marihalie took the children camping to places like Baxter State Park, Cathedral Pines and trips south to Alabama to visit her family. Marihalie volunteered at the Augusta General Hospital for 10 years. She volunteered at the Bread of Life Food Kitchen and the Sacred Heart Food Kitchen. She did not like the idea of children going hungry. Her hobbies were bingo, reading, sewing, walking and, in her younger days, cross-country skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, camping, fishing, kayaking, and flower gardening. Marihalie was very involved with her church and daily bible readings. She was predeceased by her mother, father, her husband Bill, six brothers: Kiffin, Jamie, Ned, Harold, Edwin, Donald and her sister Dannie Lee. She leaves behind her sister, Barbara Anne, five daughters: Donna Parkinson (Freeport, married to Glenn Parkinson), Anita Leeman (South Portland), Gloria Leeman (Augusta, and her caretaker Tim Piper-Martin), Teresa Leeman (South Portland) and Mary Colcord (Boothbay Harbor, married to Larry Colcord). She also leaves behind grandchildren: Patrick Lyons, Halie Goodspeed, Jonathan Lyons, Tallie Colcord, and Nathaniel Colcord and two great grandchildren, Jack Collum Lyons and Charlie Gregory Goodspeed. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Salvation Army or the Good Shepherd Food Bank. The family would like to thank the staff at Coastal Landing of Brunswick and at Southern Maine Hospice for their kind support and guidance. Arrangements are entrusted with Staples Funeral Home and Cremation Care, 53 Brunswick Avenue, Gardiner, Maine. Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the Staples Funeral Home website: www.familyfirstfuneralhomes.com