STANDISH- Catherine “Cathy” Mae (Dawes) Foster, 75, of Standish passed away peacefully at home on Nov. 5, 2023, surrounded by loving nieces and friends.
Cathy was born in Skowhegan March 15, 1948, daughter of Gladys (Whitman) Dawes and Ernst Dawes Sr. and moved to Standish in 1967. She was married in 1972 to Ronald (Mickey) E. Foster.
Cathy retired from Control Devices (formerly Sylvania) in Standish after 35 years. Cathy and Mickey enjoyed caring for and training trotters on their horse racetrack. Among their three favorites were Emily’s Angel, Emily’s Devil and Kimig. Great Danes were their favorite dogs, which happened to hardly fit into their car, and her favorite cat, of course named “Mickcat.”
Cathy was a generous, caring woman for family or friends…or even friends of friends who were strangers to her. She made for them her special apple pies, turkey shepherd’s pie, “dynamite” and the best squash ever. Nothing was too hard to get accomplished, since she was fisty and if she couldn’t do it, she would convince friends to do it in a way that they knew she really was kindhearted but still “THE BOSS.” She got this talent (obviously learned while a child in Skowhegan) dealing with her 10 other siblings growing up together. She is survived by her sisters Gloria Greene and Rita Mattson, and her brother Ernest Dawes Jr.
Special thanks to nieces Janet Mayhew and Nancy Irish and close friend Jennifer Brown for their round the clock loving caregiving while Cathy was in the hospital and at home, along with special thanks to Standish EMS, Hospice of Southern Maine, Maine Medical Center nurses and doctors, and thanks to her problem solver John S. Cross whom Cathy called “her adopted son.”
Weather permitting, a graveside funeral service will be held on Wednesday Nov. 29th at 3pm at the Dows Corner Cemetery on Cape Rd, Standish, ME. Immediately after the graveside funeral a reception will be held in the Community Room at the Standish Town Hall, 175 Northeast Rd, Standish.
Online condolence messages can be submitted at the Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service website, www.mainefuneral.com
In lieu of any flowers since it is a graveside service, consider a donation to
Hospice of Southern Maine, 390 US Route One, Scarborough, ME 04074
OR
Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals (for horses) (MSSPA), 279 River Rd, Windham, ME 04062