Dolores Vail

PORTLAND – Former Falmouth Town Council Chair/Community Leader Dolores Vail of Portland passed away peacefully on Friday morning July 19, 2024. She was 89.

The oldest of four children born in Waterville, Jan. 9, 1935, to a millworker and homemaker, Vinal and Doris Tarbell, Dolores Mae Tarbell brought energy and passion to all her endeavors. She was a 1953 graduate of Waterville High Schook, continuing her education at Farmington State Teachers College, graduating in 1957. She began her career teaching sixth graders in Falmouth. There, she met and married a fellow teacher, Homer Theodore “Ted” Vail and married in 1959, a 65-year marriage filled with love, laughter, and adventure enduringuntil her last day.

Dolores had a passion for education and social justice, and her work and volunteer activities reflected this spirit. Dolores was part of a team that developed a Maine History curriculum for public schools in the 1970s. She joined the League of Women Voters (LWV) in the late 1960s and went on to serve as President of the Portland Area LWV, and then President of the Maine State LWV, remaining a lifelong advocate for women’s equality. Later she served as director of the Salvation Army Golden Age Center in Portland and continued her service to the elderly while working for the Western Maine Area Council on Aging. In later years Dolores worked for the Maine Council of Churches where she took on the cause of the homeless in Maine. From 1998 to 2004 Dolores served on the Falmouth Town Council, including a term as Council Chair. Dolores was an enthusiastic volunteer tour guide at Longfellow and Tate Houses in Portland, sharing her love of history and the greater Portland community with countless visitors.

Throughout her life Dolores was an active member of Falmouth Congregational Church, serving as a Sunday school teacher, trustee, and in numerous other capacities. Her faith guided her life and her church family meant so much to her.

Dolores enjoyed many activities, including swimming, quilting, playing the piano, birdwatching, dancing, and cooking. Dolores and her husband’s many rich friendships filled their lives with joy and adventure, and with her husband and friends she enjoyed exploring Maine, New England, and beyond. Dolores and Ted’s home was a center of activity, and they frequently hosted gatherings of family, friends, and neighbors.

Dolores is survived by her husband, Ted Vail of Portland, sons, Ben Vail and his fiancee Joanna Montgomery of Waldoboro, and Jeffrey Vail of Washington, D.C., her brother Dick Tarbell of Tampa, Florida, grandchildren, Hannah Vail, Abbie Vail, and Jackson Vail, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother John Tarbell and sister Priscilla Hobart.

The family would like to extend their deep appreciation to the staff at Park Danforth in Portland, where Dolores lived with her husband the last four years of her life. Their dedication, kindness, and attentiveness enabled Dolores to live her final years in a compassionate and caring environment.

A memorial service in celebration of Dolores Vail’s life will be held Saturday July 27, at 11 a.m., at Falmouth Congregational Church, 267 Falmouth Road, Falmouth, Maine. The family invites you to offer your condolences at the link below.

https://www.funeralocity.com/memorials/view/127-dolores-vail