BLUE HILL and PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Rebecca (Bowden/Herrick) Wanbaugh died at the age of 95 on October 31, 2018, at her home in Blue Hill. She was born in Sargentville, ME, April 12, 1923, the daughter of Chandler and Lilla Mclntyre Bowden.
After graduation from Blue Hill George Stevens Academy and then the University of Maine, class of 1945, with a B.A. in Sociology, Rebecca was employed as the Personnel Training Supervisor for Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co., Rochester, NY, and later as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the NY State Dept. of Education. Returning to New England in 1957, she attended Andover-Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA, and later the Graduate School of the University of Maine at Orono from which she received both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in History. Dr. Wanbaugh taught in the University of Maine system at Orono and Presque Isle for a total of 37 years. During her 34 years as Professor of History and Sociology at the Presque Isle campus, she was also Dean of Women for 13 years. In addition to being very active in campus affairs at Presque Isle, she was involved at the University of Maine System level as UMPI’s Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees, a member of their Academic Planning Committee on Student Life, the Women’s Studies Consortium and the Chancellor’s Disciplinary Code Review Board.
After her retirement in 1997, Rebecca and her husband, Robert C. Wanbaugh, moved to Blue Hill, where she became involved in community organizations. She was on the Board of the George Stevens Academy Alumni Association, the Blue Hill Cemetery Association and the Blue Hill Historical Society to which she gave her unpublished Master’s Thesis, “A Century of Shipbuilding in Blue Hill, Maine, 1792 – 1892.” The thesis was published in 2018, and copies were presented to Rebecca just hours before her death but giving her an opportunity to see and appreciate her diligent work in print finalizing her goal.
Among other organizations, Dr. Wanbaugh was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority, the American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association, the American Association of University Women and the Blue Hill Baptist Church. She was listed in the World Who’s Who of Women in Education (Cambridge, England), the Dictionary of Distinguished Americans, the Dictionary of International Biography, Who’s Who of American Women, and most recently was confirmed as an Albert Nelson Marquis Life Time Achievement Honoree by the Marquis Who’s Who.
Dr. Wanbaugh was predeceased in 2006 by her husband of 25 years, Robert C. Wanbaugh. She is survived by Susan St. Clair Hansen, of Arvada, CO, Malcolm W. Jones of Mashpee, MA, and Wilma Jones Johannesen of Dexter, ME.
At her request there will be no calling hours. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. at the North Sedgwick Baptist Church, 155 North Sedgwick Road, Sedgwick, ME 04676. on Friday, November 16, 2018. Interment will be at Seaside Cemetery, Blue Hill. at a later date.
Gifts in her memory may be made to the Dr. Rebecca Herrick Wanbaugh Scholarship at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, 181 Main Street, Presque Isle, ME, 04769 or the Blue Hill Baptist Church, P.O. Box 836, Blue Hill, ME 04614.Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com.
