CUSHING — Nettie Frances Salo, 97, passed away peacefully, Monday, December 4, 2023 at the Cushing Homestead.

Born in Rockport, February 5, 1926 she was the daughter of Frank and Emma Kent Hawes. She was one of 16 siblings and attended local Rockport schools as well as Rockport High School.

Nettie moved to Bath where she worked at Senter’s Department Store. She then moved back to Rockport and worked at Knox Woolen Mills until 1945, when she married Arvo G. Salo. Nettie then spent a year working at JJ Newberry’s in Rockland and a year working at Green Island Packing Company. After leaving that job, she would spend the rest of her life as a mother and homemaker, having adopted her nephew after his mother’s death when he was only two and a half. Nettie took great pride in having a neat home.

In her spare time, Nettie enjoyed antiquing and setting up a booth at the Montsweag Flea market. She was a member of the Finnish American Heritage Society of Maine. She was very crafty and enjoyed sewing and giving handmade gifts to her many nieces. Nettie amassed a large doll collection during her lifetime, and collecting sea glass on the beach brought her many hours of pleasure.

Other than her parents, Nettie was predeceased by her husband, Arvo Salo; her son, Robert W. Springer Salo; her brothers, Freeman L. Hawes, Rodney Morse, Fred Morse, Charles Morse; her sisters, Mary Dennison, Leona Wood, Laura Flanders, Virginia Young, Ethel Carlson, Marion Goding, Evelyn Hendrickson, Marie Mulvey, Mildred Bourgea, Clarinda Morse and Arline Morse.

She is survived by her sister-in-law Shirley Hawes; many nieces and nephews including Linda Greenlaw of Rockport, Leona (Grover) Wadsworth of Hope, Brendan O’Neil of Massachusetts, and Roger Carlson of Rockland, as well as several great and great-great nieces and nephews.

Nettie’s family would like to extend a heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to the wonderful caregivers at the Cushing Homestead for their compassion and care.

A graveside committal service will be announced in the spring.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made out to the Finnish American Heritage Society of Maine, or to cancer research.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter and Hutchins Funeral Home, Rockland. To share a memory or story with Nettie’s family, please visit their Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.