Melanie Creamer is a news assistant, who's worked at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram for nearly 16 years. She oversees various responsibilities from monitoring the news and business email addresses – to fetching old newspaper articles and photos from the archive. She’s the face behind the popular business “On the Move” column, which appears in Tuesdays and Thursdays newspapers. A compassionate and soft-spoken woman, Melanie is also the writer of the newspaper’s feature obituary. Many of her colleagues say she has one of the toughest jobs in the newsroom. She tells heart-breaking stories of love and loss. She listens as parents sob uncontrollably over the tragic death of their child. She writes touching stories about couples who have been married for 60 plus years, and then die within days or weeks from each other. Melanie was the recipient of the Maine Press Association’s Unsung Hero Award in 2015. A native of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, she graduated from Fitchburg State College in 2000 with a degree in professional writing. She lives in Scarborough with her fiancée and is a co-parent to two daughters.
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PublishedJuly 27, 2020
Woodrow Cross, founder of Cross Insurance, dies at age 103
Cross, a WWII veteran and entrepreneur from an early age, founded the company at his kitchen table in Bangor and grew it into the largest insurance agency in New England.
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PublishedJuly 17, 2020
BIW executive, family man took his life as depression mounted during pandemic
The stresses that took a toll on James Richardson, 54, are a broader concern for mental health care providers, who fear suicide rates will increase because of the isolation, uncertainty and economic pressures of the pandemic.
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PublishedJuly 7, 2020
Dick Gosselin, veteran Maine broadcaster and reporter, dies at age 72
Mr. Gosselin became a mainstay on Portland television stations WCSH and WMTW in a career that spanned 50 years.
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PublishedJune 18, 2020
Feature Obituary: Todd Miller, 53, avid skier who was beloved at Sunday River
His friends and family remember him as an outdoorsman who lived life to its fullest.
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PublishedMay 27, 2020
Maine’s first known victim of COVID-19 was a bridge to the state’s past
Noting Albert Kelsey’s death, Gov. Janet Mills said his life and ancestors – including a former Maine governor – are reminders that each person who has died in the pandemic has a story and a life worth honoring.
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PublishedApril 9, 2020
Joseph MacDonald, 73, Army veteran and Biddeford resident, dies from coronavirus
He served during the Vietnam War and volunteered for organizations including the Disabled American Veterans.
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PublishedApril 8, 2020
Feature obituary: Retired nurse Beverly Collins dies from complications of coronavirus
Collins, 83, worked and as a nurse and volunteered in Portland for many years and had a home in Standish.
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PublishedMarch 29, 2020
Pandemic interrupts grieving process for Mainers in mourning
Countless funeral and memorial services in Maine have been postponed or moved online because of the coronavirus outbreak.
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PublishedDecember 18, 2019
Harry Sky, prominent rabbi and civil rights leader in Maine, dies at 95
Sky, described by a former governor as ‘the conscience of the community,’ played a prominent role for decades in Portland’s religious and civic life.
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PublishedJuly 29, 2019
Siblings build casket for beloved father from items he had collected
Robert McCormick of Sanford, a mason, landscaper and maintenance man, died July 16 at age 70.