More than 150 mourners gathered Wednesday at Dennett, Craig & Pate Funeral Home to pay tribute to a woman who brought happiness to many through her work as postmaster in Bar Mills and as maker of Squeezums, a craft that contains a Hershey’s Kiss.
Peggy Bisco, who died April 2 at age 56, served as postmaster at the small post office for 12 years. Her career with the U.S. Postal Service spanned 23 years and included part-time work as relief postmaster in South Casco, Bridgton, Naples, South Casco, Raymond and Windham.
Bisco’s only child, Christie Colin, of York, Pennsylvania, reflected Tuesday on her mother’s dedication to her job. Colin said residents around the Buxton area would frequent the Bar Mills branch just to say hello to her mom.
“Everyone from that post office loved her,” Colin said. “People would go there just for her. She was so personable. She loved socializing and helping people. She got a lot of fulfillment from that.”
Another hallmark of Bisco’s life was creating Squeezums, a craft from a kit. Colin said they are stuffed characters containing a Hershey’s Kiss that appears when the cheeks are squeezed. Visitors at Wednesday’s service got to take one home in memory of Bisco.
Colin said her mother was creative and got a lot of pleasure out of making things for people.
“I loved them and my kids loved them,” Colin said of the Squeezums. “She sent them with every package. The kids fought to open every box because they knew there were Squeezums with a Hershey’s Kiss. My mom … when it came time for the holidays or gift-giving, she always made stuff. She rarely bought things. She got way more out of that.”
Perhaps most important to Mrs. Bisco was her family.
Colin credits her mother for her successful archery career, which continues today. Colin has traveled to 25 countries to compete in archery events.
According to her obituary, Mrs. Bisco traveled to Tokyo in 2001 to watch her daughter participate in the Archery World Cup Finals Championship. Colin won third place in the individual and a gold medal in the mixed-team event.
“For years, she drove me all over to archery tournaments,” Colin said. “My mother was so supportive. She didn’t put pressure on me. … I wouldn’t have kept doing the sport if she wasn’t so supportive.”
Mrs. Bisco’s obituary also notes that on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Colin was scheduled to fly out of Portland for a trip to Beijing for a competition, and Mrs. Bisco and her daughter were among the last people to see two terrorists enter the Portland International Jetport, where they caught a flight to Boston. In 2014, Mrs. Bisco was part of a National Geographic documentary about the terrorist attacks, “The Final Hours.”
Mrs. Bisco was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2013. She went into remission, but the cancer returned in November 2014 and metastasized to her brain.
Colin said her mother didn’t let her illness get her down.
“She was always positive. She was positive right to the end. There was no woe-is-me negativity. She lived life to its fullest.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
