Zachary Johnson of Auburn died from cancer this week, but not before reaching his dream of becoming a police officer.
Melanie Creamer
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.
Brian Luce, popular teacher, coach and plumber, dies at 68
The Windham man taught industrial arts in Gray-New Gloucester schools for 26 years.
Ron Burke of Shapleigh, master potter who shared skills with many, dies at 80
He taught pottery at the Maine College of Art, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and elsewhere, and was a devoted supporter of social justice causes.
John Bird, 73, active advocate in Old Orchard Beach politics, dies
The former town councilor advocated strongly for environmental and conservation issues.
David Burnham, accident victim, stocked Hannaford with warmth and good cheer
A dedicated employee at the Riverside Street supermarket, Burnham died from injuries he suffered when he was hit by a moped.
Feature obituary: Justin Vadas, 37, hard worker, lost ‘long struggle with addiction’
He had multiple stints in detox centers, but was never able to maintain his sobriety, his mother says.
Maine ski legend John Christie, ‘a larger-than-life character,’ dies at 79
Christie, a member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame and a Maine Sunday Telegram columnist, died of an apparent heart attack Saturday while working at Camden Hills State Park.
After six-decade marriage, Maine couple die within hours of one another
Robert and Lucille Robinson, longtime residents of Cumberland Foreside, ‘knew how to make (love) work.’
Feature obituary: Anna Ciccarelli, 77, assisted in thousands of births at Maine Med
She is remembered as easily balancing her roles as nurse, wife, mother and grandmother.
Featured obituary: Brunswick student who taught others to see beyond his disability dies at 13
Matthew (Ragains) Lizotte liked challenge and appreciated it when other students ‘were real with him.’