On February 3, 2026, we lost “the girl with the laughing eyes, charming personality and the best and sweetest personality I could ever call a friend” (WHS Yearbook ’51).
Shirley Dorothy Drake Ducharme was born in Oakland, Maine, on April 14, 1932, to Rodney and Sadie (Bourgoin) Drake. Though her father died when she was just 10 years old, Shirley’s fondest memories of her childhood were of walking the two blocks from her house on School Street to the Emerson and Stevens Axe factory, where her father worked as a night watchman. “I would sit and have my dinner and my dad would tell me stories while he worked.” A few years after his passing, Shirley’s family moved to the neighboring town of Waterville, where she attended and graduated from Waterville High School. Not only was she recognized by her peers in their class poll for being “Most Polite,” “Best Personality” and “Nicest Smile,” Shirley also graduated cum laude and received the Daughters of the Revolution Good Citizenship Award.
It was at WHS where Shirley met her future husband, Edward Ducharme. Though the two attended the senior prom together, the pair put a pause on any future plans of matrimonial bliss in order to pursue a higher calling. Postgraduation, Shirley entered a convent, while Edward entered a seminary. After one year, Shirley decided that “getting thee to a nunnery” was not for her. She left the convent and began employment as a telephone operator, waiting patiently for Edward to come to his senses. What future could be better than one that included “the best girl Waterville High school ever had … and the prettiest girl in the state of Maine” (WHS ’51)? ’Nuff said. The two married in 1955.
Between the years 1957 and 1968, Shirley gave birth to three sons and two daughters. She often said being a stay-at-home mom and raising her five kids were “the best times of my life.” While she ran her busy household typical of the glass-ceiling era, she also taught her fab five how to do everything from tying their shoes to the yeoman’s work of serving as the family driver’s ed instructor. Additionally, she loved sewing dresses, ponchos, pants and shirts for her daughters; playing catch with her sons; and even teaching one how to correctly pronounce the name Carl Yastrzemski! For her entire life, her kids came first. They were her proudest achievement.
Outside of parenting, her greatest passion was gardening. Across her homes in New York, Maryland, Rhode Island and Vermont, Shirley created works of art in her beautiful flower gardens. Her green thumbs specialized in cultivating beds of roses, morning glories, hydrangeas, tulips, marigolds, geraniums, snapdragons and phlox. During moments of leisure, one would find her devouring biographies; mysteries, especially Agatha and Sherlock; and anything written by Jane Austen. Shirley also loved to test herself physically. She would run for miles and miles along the dirt roads in and around Hinesburg, Vermont; cross-country ski to the country store to get the newspaper; and hike all the mountains Vermont had to offer.
As a single woman in her early sixties, life threw Shirley a curveball with a breast cancer diagnosis. However, as a former classmate penned to her in her yearbook, “I know whatever you undertake, you will succeed.” And succeed she did. Pooling the grit and determination that undoubtedly helped her finish the Ottawa marathon a decade earlier, she not only bested breast cancer but also took on other endeavors. She drove to the Middlebury Snow Bowl and learned to downhill ski, and went on daily walks — often 10 miles or more — with her beloved canines Sparky and Benoit. She became a die-hard fan of the Boston Red Sox. During a televised game you would never hear Shirley exclaim, “Let’s go, Big Papi!” It was always, “C’mon, David!”
Perhaps most impressive, Shirley became a world traveler. She walked up the world’s steepest street in New Zealand, swam in Jordan’s Dead Sea, strolled along the Great Wall of China, sailed down the Nile to visit the Great Pyramid, camped in the desert of Oman, strolled the streets in Abu Dhabi, looked down on Dubai from the top of Burj Khalifa, rented a car to drive along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, marveled at the Parthenon in Greece, browsed Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, and visited the twin cities of Budapest along the Danube. Shirley Ducharme led a life well lived, was loved to the moon and back, and will be missed greatly by all, especially her grandchildren, who felt uniquely spoiled and loved by their grandma.
Shirley was predeceased by her parents and by her sister, Madeline Fauria, and brother, Robert Drake. She is survived by her five children, Stephen Ducharme, Elaine Ducharme and husband Jack, Marc Ducharme and wife Penny, Janet Ducharme and husband Mark, and Paul Ducharme and wife Sarah. She is also survived by nine grandchildren: Cypres Nield and husband Michael, Isabella Bakic and husband Luka, Rye Carroll, Drake Ducharme, Sophia Sardegna and partner Brian DelGreco, Grace Ducharme, Alden Ducharme, Phoenix Carroll, and Eva Ducharme. Shirley is also survived by six great-grandchildren: Alaska, Freya, Moira, Ronan, Gideon and Tristan, and one grandpuppy, Abigail Adams. A celebration of life will occur this summer. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be given in Shirley’s name to the Oakland Public Library at 18 Church St., Oakland, Maine 04963.