She was a Millinocket girl…born in the 1920’s, attended school in town, went off to college, married and then spent years living in Connecticut. She eventually returned to Millinocket to spend her later years and nearly made it to her 100th birthday. Her name was Marian Harris and her early story is worth sharing.
Marian grew up on Knox Street. Her family consisted of parents Albert I. Harris and Marian (Russell) Harris plus siblings Dorothy, Lucille, Ralph and Lester. In recent months, the historical society has received many photos, paper items, military items and some unusual items pertaining to Marian, her immediate family and those of her first husband’s family (Vaughn W. Comstock, WWII veteran).
As a youngster, a student, a young woman, Marian was involved in any and all activities Millinocket had to offer. A brilliant student (her report cards were all A+ except for physical education (B’s)). She excelled in basketball being team captain her senior year. She wrote a piece for the 1939 yearbook titled “Why?” She asked why some folks thought basketball was “too strenuous and rough, that girls tire easily and are likely to strain themselves.”
She was on the Stearns debate team, played saxophone in the Stearns band and orchestra. You can find Marian’s photo on many pages of the SHS yearbooks. Marian graduated SHS in the spring of 1941 as the class valedictorian. She attended Tufts College for two years and finished her college years at the University of Maine.
Always looking for the next challenge, we’ve been told that Marian owned a 1933 Elgin bicycle. She rode that bicycle 750 miles from Millinocket to visit relatives in Connecticut. Her brother Ralph went with her. What an adventure! That bicycle may become a part of the museum’s collection in the spring!
In 1943, she moved to Caribou to take flying lessons financed by delivering mail and picking potatoes. She earned her commercial pilot license and then her flight instructor’s rating at the Caribou Flying Service. This was during the war when women were taking over jobs previously held by men who entered the military. Marian regularly flew a J-3 Piper Cub plane. On one occasion, she performed a dead stick landing in a potato field after the engine shut down. (The museum has a pair of Marian’s leather fur-lined flying gloves.)
Marian’s pet husky/shepherd dog Honey was offered to the Coast Guard program called Dogs and Dollars, Dogs for Defense. Letters back and forth for several months give information regarding shipping Honey, the training program and more. Mrs. Harris, Marian’s mother handled the correspondence. (Note: a previous Odds & Ends column by this writer details the adventures of Honey, the War Dog.) Honey was crated and shipped to Massachusetts, then Maryland for training. A mix-up occurred (somehow Honey’s and another dog’s identity were switched). Eventually, it was sorted out and Honey trained for several more weeks and then sent home as deemed not fit to continue (bad reaction to heavy shell fire).
Marian married, raised two children and in her later years returned to Millinocket where she enjoyed backpacking, canoeing and hiking in Baxter Park.
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