Paula Joan (Beal) Potter

PORTLAND – Paula Joan (Beal) Potter, 76, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, after a long illness.

She was born on Nov. 16, 1947, in Lincoln, the daughter of Walter E. Beal and Nellie A. (Osgood) Beal. She grew up in the northern Maine town of Kingman, where she attended primary school until the 8th grade, becoming the town spelling champion and representing Kingman in the 1962 State of Maine Spelling Bee. When high school came along, she would ride 30-plus miles a day on a bus to Lee Academy in Lee (class of 1966), where she excelled in school and participated in women’s softball, basketball, volleyball, and cheerleading. Lee Academy is also where she met her husband, Gary A. Potter.

Following graduation, she moved to Presque Isle, where her family had relocated, and became a telephone operator with New England Telephone.

In the summer of 1968, she married her high school sweetheart, Gary A. Potter of Wytopitlock on June 29.

In 1970, she moved to Waterville, where her children, Stacy and Troy, were born, then to Fairfield Center, where she helped her husband build a successful commercial janitorial service business, United Services. During this time, Paula was president of her sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, active in Rotary and Amway, and a Lay Eucharistic Minister at Notre Dame Catholic Church.

Paula eventually settled in a home on Bellsqueeze Road in Benton, where they lived for almost 40 years. A meticulous decorator, her house was once highlighted in the Morning Sentinel newspaper for her exquisite design. A “Martha Stewart” of her time, she enjoyed crafting, flower arranging, decorating, and party planning for family and friends. Christmas was a particular favorite time, as she would begin decorating and playing holiday music in October of every year, dedicating an entire room just for Christmas that the family would fondly call “The Christmas Room.” At 40, constantly re-inventing herself, she attended the Maine State Hair Academy in Waterville and became a cosmetologist, and briefly owned a salon, “Shear Image.”

Paula’s children attended Lawrence High School in Fairfield, where she became an active member of the community, joining boosters clubs and always attending every sporting event or activity her children (or their friends) participated in. She helped her husband with his many businesses over the years, when they opened Michael Lynn Furniture (named after their children’s middle names) in Fairfield Center, Paula created a funny character “Aunt Bertha,” for their advertising campaign ending each commercial with her signature phrase, “Tell ‘Em Aunt Bertha Sent Ya!” She performed alongside her side-kick “Cousin Millie,” acted by her long-time friend, Lona Ward, at events throughout the community, bringing joy and laughter to all. This personality became her trademark with people recognizing her across the state for decades.

In 1999, she began a decade-long career at L.L.Bean’s call center in Waterville until her retirement. She was always very proud to have worked for such a well-known and prestigious company.

Paula never met a stranger. Her genuine sense of self, magnetic personality, and humor attracted people from all walks of life to her. She often acknowledged the wonderful people she had met over the years and how much even the smallest acquaintance meant to her, creating what she called her “Patchwork of Friends.” A natural born caregiver, she devoted much of her life to helping friends and strangers alike through times of need. Many of her children’s friends often thought of her as a second mother throughout their lives. She had a special place in her heart for her best friend of over 50 years, Sylvia Lofgren of Lewes, Del., and friends Joyce and Ray Dickey of Clinton.

Predeceased by her father, Walter E. Beal, her mother, Nellie A. (Osgood) Beal Keith; sister, Jane Marie Gagnon.

Paula is survived by her husband of 56 years, Gary A. Potter; son, Troy M. Potter, wife Jennifer (Cummings) Potter and their children Alexander Potter, Sophey Potter of Windham; daughter, Stacy L. (Potter) Chimento, husband Michael Chimento, and their children Ethan Chimento, Noah Chimento, and Isabella Chimento of Peachtree City, Ga.; sister, Sally (Beal) Mulligan of Westbrook; niece, Susan (Mulligan) Mooers, husband Jeff Moers, and their children Cameron Mooers, Alyson Mooers of Hudson, N.H.; niece, Amy Gagnon, fiancée Nicholas Voisine, and their children Gavin Faye, Owen Voisine, of Presque Isle.

Visiting hours will be at Veilleux Redington Lawry Brothers Funeral Home, 8 Elm St. Waterville on Saturday, Nov. 23, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. with services and refreshments directly following. Graveside services will be held on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 10 a.m. at Ames Cemetery, in Benton.

Paula always loved flowers surrounding her. Flowers may be sent to Veilleux Funeral Home.

For those who wish, contributions may be made in Paula’s memory to

St. Jude Children’s

Research Hospital,

501 St. Jude Place,

Memphis, TN 38105,

and http://www.stjude.org/donate