The cremated remains of Rosalina Zamora, one of three people who died March 13 in a fire in Unity Township, will be flown home to her native Philippines on Monday, her surviving son-in-law said Tuesday.

Zamora, 72 — Rose, as she was known — along with her companion, Peter Kavin, 56, and their friend Richard Boulette, 57, were identified positively as the three victims by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. DNA was matched to family members to complete the investigation, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Zamora’s son-in-law, G. Chris Pond, of Millington, Tenn., said he and his wife, Crisalyn, who also is Filipino, came to Maine on April 1 to collect her remains.

“She was a very good mother. She had a large family, seven kids. She was concerned always about all of her family and kept in close contact with my wife,” he said Tuesday. “She was a family woman and very carefree; she enjoyed herself. She liked to have fun and enjoy life. She liked to dance.”

A memorial service for Kavin — known as “Pack Rat Pete” according to his obituary — was held April 8 at Fairfield First Baptist Church.

A service for Boulette was held April 2 at Notre Dame Roman Catholic Church on Silver Street, Waterville.

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The fire apparently broke out sometime Saturday night, March 12, but was not discovered until 10 a.m. the following day when a passer-by spotted the smoldering rubble on the dead-end Reynolds Road, off Route 139 in Kennebec County.

The fire’s cause may never be determined, as the mobile home was consumed in the overnight blaze, leaving little for investigators to examine in order to pinpoint a cause, authorities said.

People who live and work near the home said they knew Pete and Rose to be pleasant, friendly people who bought and sold everything from antiques to used refrigerators. The couple also raised pigs on the lot next to a rural speedway.

Pete and Rose could be seen in the Waterville and Fairfield areas during the summer in their white Toyota Tercel bearing the words “clams” and “taxi.”

That Tercel was parked in the yard at the fire scene, a 2011 Fairfield Antiques Mall calendar magnet on the driver’s side door.

 

 


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