CAMDEN…………………..Ollie was born in Utica, New York, on January 8, 1917. She graduated from Mt. Holyoke College in 1938, and then attended the Yale University School of Nursing for two years. While in New Haven she met and married Grover Wickenden, a graduate student at the Yale Divinity School.
While living in Scranton, PA during the mid-1950s, Ollie returned to nursing school and obtained her RN from the Hahnemann Hospital School of Nursing. Immediately upon graduating she assumed a position as the assistant director of nursing in the hospital where she had trained.
Following a 1956 move to Ada, Ohio, Ollie became the Director of Nurses at Lima Memorial Hospital. She and Grover divorced in 1958. She then moved to Whittier, California to become the Director of Nurses at a new hospital, Presbyterian Intercommunity. Until she was in her mid-90s she continued to pursue nursing education and she proudly retained her nursing license.
In 1965, she married retired California businessman Elliott “Curly” Roberts. Thereby she gained another daughter, Paula, and a son, Sandy. She and Curly lived through the rest of the 20th century in Carpinteria, just south of Santa Barbara. As Curly became less independent, she cared for him in their home, with magnificent hospice assistance, until Curly died in 2000. Through that experience Ollie gained great respect and appreciation for the Hospice organization. She served on its board when she moved to Camden, the home of her daughter, Joy Brown and her sons, Roger and John Wickenden, after her husband’s death.
Ollie volunteered twice weekly at PBMC, and generously contributed to and supported many local organizations, charities, and individuals in need. She loved frequent family gatherings and was a very gracious hostess. As her independence became more challenging, she moved to an apartment at Quarry Hill, and during the last several years she lived in its assisted living unit. Ollie had hoped to live to be 100, but expressed, daily, her gratitude for a long, happy, and healthy life.
She was predeceased by her older sister, Anna Williams of Lakeland, Florida, and by her two younger brothers, Dr. Roger Williams of Bainbridge, NY, and John Williams of Whitesboro, NY.
Ollie is survived by her children, son, John W. Wickenden, and his husband, Michael Clarke, of Oro Valley, Arizona; daughter Joy Ann Brown, and her husband, Peter, of Oro Valley, Arizona; son, Roger W. Wickenden, and his wife Wendy, of Camden; daughter, Paula Cook and her husband, Jim of Norfolk, Virginia; and Elliott “Sandy” Roberts, Jr. and his wife, Laurie of Newport, North Carolina. She was very proud of nine grandchildren, James Wickenden and his wife Jennifer, of Camden; Stephen Wickenden and his wife Lisa, of Belfast; Jeffrey Zeiler and his wife Beth, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Kristine Scher and her husband Jason, of Tucson, Arizona; Susan Elliott and her husband Clint of, Tucson, Arizona; Jon Wickenden and his wife Kim, of Rockport; Brian Wickenden and his wife Moon, of Camden; Sarah Wickenden and her husband Chris Lawton, of Rockport; and Thomas Cook and his partner Hanna, of Chicago, Illinois; and eighteen great grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for 2PM, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015 at the First Congregational Church UCC, 55 Elm Street, Camden with the Rev. Dr. Deb Jenks officiating. Ollie’s family suggests that memorial gifts be given to one of Ollie’s favorite community service programs, Sussman Hospice House, c/o Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation, 22 White Street, Rockland, ME 04841; Kno-Wal-Lin Hospice Program, c/o Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation, Rockland, ME 04841; Coastal Family Hospice Volunteers, PO Box 122, Rockport, ME 04856; or to the Shields Mission Project, First Congregational Church, 55 Elm Street, Camden, ME 04843. Condolences and memories may be shared with Ollie’s family at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.

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