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Helen Longley

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Helen Longley
First Lady of Maine
In role
January 2, 1975 – January 3, 1979
Preceded byPauline "Polly" Curtis
Succeeded byConstance Brennan
Personal details
Born
Helen Angela Walsh

(1922-04-11)April 11, 1922
Springfield, Ohio, U.S.
DiedSeptember 13, 2005(2005-09-13) (aged 83)
Portland, Maine, U.S.
Political partyIndependent
Spouse
(m. 1949; died 1980)
Children5, including James Jr.
RelativesJohn Moore (grandson)

Helen Walsh Longley (April 11, 1922 – September 13, 2005) was the former First Lady of Maine from 1975 to 1979, and the wife of the U.S. first independent Governor, James B. Longley.[1] [2] Longley was born Helen Angela Walsh in Springfield, Ohio.[1] She met her future husband, then a cadet in the United States Army Air Corps, in 1943.[1] The couple married in 1949 in Ohio and moved to Lewiston, Maine.[1] They had five children, including former Republican U.S. Representative James B. Longley Jr. (born 1951).

As First Lady, Longley was a proponent of the Special Olympics, as well as state medical facilities, including the Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital.[1]

Helen Longley died at Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine, on September 13, 2005, at the age of 83.[1] She was a resident of Falmouth, Maine, and a former resident of Lewiston.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Helen W. Longley, 83, wife of former Maine governor". Boston Globe. Associated Press. 2005-09-15. Retrieved 2012-03-08.
  2. ^ a b "Helen W. Longley 1922-2005". Sun Journal (Lewiston). 2005-09-14. Retrieved 2012-03-08.