BELGRADE - Mary Ann Higgins Bate, 86, a longtime resident of Belgrade, died Monday, June 13, 2005, at Montello Commons in Lewiston, following a long illness. She was born in Hyde Park, Mass., on May 11, 1919, the daughter of John and Luella Wallace Higgins. The family moved to Winthrop in 1932 and Mary graduated from Winthrop High in 1937. She and her husband, Kenneth E. Bate, of Fayette, were married on July 2, 1937. During World War II, they spent five years in Connecticut, while Ken was employed by Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. During the Korean War, they spent a second five-year stint, this time both working for the same company. Between those times, they lived in Readfield while operating a small lunchroom business at Readfield Corner. In 1965, she and Ken moved back to Maine and settled in Belgrade. Mary went to work for the state of Maine, retiring from the state to help her husband in his craft business. It was during that time that she busied herself in a variety of crafts, particularly quilting. Mary was a member of the Readfield Grange. Her favorite activities were traveling and spoiling her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whom will miss her dearly. Mary was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Ken; her two brothers, John W. Higgins Jr. and Kenneth 'Rusty' Higgins; and by two sisters, Luella Frances Paynter and Harriet Carter. She is survived by a son, Kenneth J. Bate and his wife, Martha, of Wayne; her daughter, Anna Moran and her husband, Richard, of Waldoboro; three granddaughters, Mary 'Ty' Borghi and her husband, Ray, of Natick, Mass., Rita Bate of Framingham, Mass., and Cynthia Merrill and her husband, Douglas, of Ellsworth; three grandsons, Kenneth Robert Bate and his wife, Kimberly Steele, of Hudson, N.H., Richard J. Moran and his wife, Penny, of Waldoboro and Daniel Moran and his wife, Sarah, of Waldoboro; 16 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. A committal service and interment will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday at Pine Grove Cemetery, Belgrade. A celebration of Mary's life will follow the burial and begin at 3 p.m. at Wayne Community Church, with the Rev. Kyung-hee Sa officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Mary's memory be made to Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice, P.O. Box 819, Lewiston 04243. Arrangements are in the care of Roberts Funeral Home, 62 Bowdoin St., Winthrop.