SCARBOROUGH — Melissa S. Pettingill, 45, died Dec. 3 at a Portland hospital after a courageous 19-month battle with lung cancer.

Born March 24, 1965, in Ipswich, Mass., a daughter of Gale and Beverley Kleiner, she was educated in Ipswich Schools and graduated in 1984. 

In 1988 she graduated with honors from the University of Maine, Orono, with a degree in early childhood education.

For many years she taught at the Westbrook College Children’s Center and the Shooting Stars School for children with special needs.

She also dedicated her time as a mentor to a teen mom in Portland, a volunteer in the Scarborough school system and as a member of the East Point Church in Portland.

Her main focus was her family, and she loved spending family time skiing in North Conway, taking trips to the beach, and attending her sons’ athletic events.

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She also had a passion for photography.

Known for her kindness, unselfishness and giving personality, she touched the lives of friends and family from Maine to California.

Her sister, Cheryl Grimes, predeceased her in 2006.

Surviving is her husband of 20 years, Mark Pettingill of Scarborough; two sons, Zach and Skylar Pettingill of Scarborough; two sisters, Kara Johnston of Somerset, Mass., and Valerie Marshall of Ipswich, Mass., and her parents Gale and Beverly Kleiner of Ipswich, Mass.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Dana Farber Cancer Institute online at dana-farber.org

Memorial services were held earlier this week.

Arrangements are by Hobbs Funeral Home, 671 U.S. Route 1, Scarborough. 

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