Mabel Ellen Parkman

Mabel Ellen Washburn Parkman, 91, long time resident of Schenectady, NY, died of age-related causes at the Cook Adult Home, where she was given loving care for the past three years. She was born on July 13, 1923 in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, the daughter of Hattie Johnson Washburn and Fred Farrington Washburn. She graduated from Foxcroft Academy, class of 1942 and married her childhood sweetheart, Keith Morrison Parkman November 13, 1942, just prior to his going into the Marine Corps to serve his country. After the war, the couple made their first home in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine and in 1948 moved to Schenectady, New York. She had a love of poetry and often quoted from the well known poem, Myself: I have to live with myself and so I want to be fit for myself to know. I want to be able as the days go by Always to look myself straight in the eye I don't want to keep on the closet shelf A lot of secrets about myself And fool myself, as I come and go Into thinking that nobody else will know The kind of woman I really am I don't want to dress myself up in a sham. I never can hide myself from me; As I see what others may never see. I know what others may never know I have to live with myself, and so Whatever happens, I want to be Self-respecting and conscience free. She is survived by her three sisters: Metella Woodworth, Jane Grant both of Dover-Foxcroft, ME, Carolyn Olson of Pittsfield, MA, her brother, Richard Washburn of Tacoma, WA and her sister-in-law Barbara Wilson of Dover-Foxcroft, ME; two daughters: Janet Walton of Schuylerville, NY and Constance Clarke of Niskayuna, NY; six grandchildren: Rebecca Bennett, Jennifer Clarke, Seth Walton, Gretchen Clarke, Sarah Walton, Bethany Walton; ten great-grandchildren and twenty-four nieces and nephews. She was pre-deceased by: her husband, Keith Morrison Parkman; two sisters: Charlotte Palmer, Bertha Fitzgerald and two brothers, Frank Washburn and Robert Washburn. Funeral services will be private at the convenience of the family. Burial will be at a later date at the Saratoga National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Community Hospice of Saratoga County. Arrangements are in the care of the Bond Funeral Home, Schenectady, NY.