Irene was born in Brunswick on May 24, 1923, a daughter of Frank Adams Eastman and Stella Chapman Eastman.
She was predeceased by her husband, William W. " Wally" Clough; and sisters, Alice Rackley, Annie Derocher, Edith Robinson, Edna Eastman, Florence Dyer, and Doris Lybrand; and by one brother, Ralph Eastman.
Irene attended Longfellow School, then Wheeler Hall, and graduated from Brunswick High School in 1940.
She went to work in 1941 for Chandler’s Book Store. On September 9, 1944, she married Wally Clough and continued working in the bookstore until she moved. Wally was in the submarine service in the Navy and they moved to New Hampshire and then Connecticut. While there, she worked in local grocery stores.
Irene and Wally bought their home on McLellen Street in 1946 where they lived all their married lives and where Irene resided after Wally’s death. For the past 2-1/2 years, she had resided at Freeport Nursing Home.
Irene stayed home from 1952 through 1966 to care for her three daughters. She also watched several neighborhood children during that time. She returned to work for Wally, who was manager of the new Loring, Short & Harmon store, formerly Chandler’s Book Store, in 1966. She worked alongside Wally for 24 years, both of them retiring in November of 1989.
Irene was a member of the Dirigo Grange for several years. She was a lifetime member of the Methodist Church where she ran the nursery school during church services for more than ten years. Irene and Wally attended all the Grange dances in the area, as well as Wally’s Knights of Pythias lodge events, and were well known for their dancing.
Family meant everything to Irene. Growing up in Brunswick, her large family, their spouses and children were her entire social outlet. Her best friends were her sisters. Monthly birthday celebrations, card-playing evenings, traveling to visit her sister in South Carolina, and family reunions were her most favorite times.
Irene is survived by three daughters, Sandra Clough of Brunswick, ME, Vicki Kelley and her husband, Guy of Pittston, ME, and Karen Lemieux and her husband, Brian of Durham, ME; four grandchildren, Maegan Dotter and her husband, Aaron of Augusta, ME Nathan Hahn of Pittston, ME, Peter Kelley and his wife, Theresa of Portland, ME, and Callie Lemieux of Durham, ME. She is also survived by one sister, Gladys Totten of Brunswick, ME, and dozens of nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours will be from 5 to 7 PM Wednesday, April 4, at the Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal Street, Brunswick, where a funeral service will be held at 1PM Thursday with Rev. Jeff Hunt officiating. Burial will follow at Varney Cemetery, Brunswick. If desired, donations can be made in Irene’s memory to the Coastal Humane Society, 30 Range Rd, Brunswick, ME 04011, or to CHANS Home Health Care, 60 Baribeau Dr., Brunswick, ME 04011. Condolences can be expressed at www.brackettfuneralhome.com.
obits@timesrecord.com
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
