Obituary of Elsie Ladd

Elsie Ladd, 83, passed away peacefully with her husband by her side at her home in Freedom on Aug. 14, 2017. Elsie was born in Unity, June 24, 1934, the daughter of Merton and Edith Reynolds. She was the salutatorian of Unity High School, class of 1952, as well as captain of the girl’s basketball and softball teams. She married the love of her life, Richard Ladd, in September 1952 after meeting him at a 4-H Conference in Orono in 1950. She loved people and throughout her life worked as a nurse’s aide in Farmington and Waterville and later as a social worker and activities director at a local nursing home. She was a Girl Scout leader and a Pioneer Girls leader and prior to this, she was an outstanding Girl Scout herself and had a uniform covered with merit badges. She enjoyed gardening, making maple syrup, photography, scrapbooking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, crossword and jigsaw puzzles. In later years she looked forward to a daily telephone visit each morning with her dear friend, Alice Gordon of Unity, as they both did the crossword puzzle in the Morning Sentinel newspaper and compared answers. She became a born-again Christian in 1958 and was very knowledgeable concerning the Bible. She taught Sunday School classes for many years and was a member of Knox Ridge Baptist Church. She is survived by her husband, Richard Ladd of Freedom; daughter Ellen and her husband Clifton Power of Belfast; son Ronald Alan and his wife Kathy Ladd of Albion; granddaughter Renee and her husband Donald Kitchen and granddaughters Quinlan and Greta of Northport; brother Richard and his wife Teena of Glenburn and sister-in-law Edie Hussey of Dover-Foxcroft as well as many cousins, nieces and nephews. Visiting hours will be held Tuesday, Aug. 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Riposta Funeral Home, Belfast. A funeral service will be held Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 1 p.m. at Knox Ridge Baptist Church. Her body will be laid to rest in the Ladd family plot, Pine Grove Cemetery, Dover-Foxcroft at 11 a.m. on Aug. 24. Donations in Elsie’s memory may be made to Child Evangelism Fellowship, P.O. Box 132, Carmel, ME 04419, or Knox Ridge Baptist Church, P.O. Box 5, Thorndike, ME 04986. The family would like to thank all the caring people who have helped along the way – especially the angels at Waldo County General Hospital, Harbor Hill Nursing Home, Maine Hospice Health Care at Home and Dr. Paul Mazur.