Obit: Barbara J. Cable ... was switchboard operator

ROCHESTER - Barbara J. (Melanson) Cable, 81, of Rochester and formerly of Portsmouth, and Eliot, Maine, died, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014, at the Hyder Family Hospice House in Dover.

She was born on May 4, 1932 in Rumford, Maine, a daughter of Fred J. and Harriet (Coolidge) Melanson.

Prior to her retirement, Barbara was employed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as a switchboard operator in Building 13.

She was a member and former Worthy Matron of the Sarah Orne Jewett Chapter #176, Order of Eastern Star; she loved her family, was an avid reader and enjoyed cooking.

Survivors include her children, Robert H. Robinson, Jr and his wife, Jean of Lebanon, Maine; Michael A. Briney and his wife, Maureen of Kittery, Maine; Cynthia L. Teeter of Rochester; and Anne M. Thurlow and her husband, Dana of Strong, Maine; her caregiver, Richard Teeter of Rochester; 15 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; sister, Paula C. Kidder of Eliot, Maine; brother, Fred Melanson and his wife, Nancy of North Hampton; sister, Sandra L. Gauthier and her husband, Frank of South Berwick, Maine; cousins, Margaret Stanley of So. Windsor, Conn. and Jean Claire McPhearson of Bilerica, Mass.; numerous beloved nieces, nephews and great nieces and nephews.

Barbara was predeceased by her husband, Kenneth D. Cable, daughters, Vicki Lynn Marden, Michelle Ann Robinson, sister, Sally Ann Thompson and brother, Peter Melanson.