Obituary: Dolores “Del” MacLean

Dolores “Del” MacLean, 86, of Naples, Fla., Passes Away

Naples, Fla. – Dolores “Del” Cecile (Fraser) MacLean, an 86‑year‑old lifelong resident of Naples, died peacefully on October 9, 2026. Born in Madawaska, Maine, on October 26, 1939, Del was a celebrated community figure who had lived in Florida for nearly three decades and had a career that spanned journalism, hospitality, yarn retail, and real‑estate sales.

Del’s parents, Hermanegilde and Isabel (Michaud) Fraser, were natives of L’Isle Vert, Quebec, Canada, and emigrated to Lewiston, Maine, where Del grew up with seven siblings. She attended local parochial schools, learning English only after age ten. While still in high school she served as the school page reporter for the Lewiston Evening Journal (1955‑56) and later worked at the Poland Spring House in Poland, Maine. It was in 1956, while employed at Pirate’s Cove Restaurant on Bailey Island, that she met David Peter MacLean of Brunswick. The couple married in Brunswick on December 6, 1958 and settled near the end of Pinkham’s Point.

In 1965 the couple bought a farmhouse on outer McKeen Street in Brunswick, which they renovated to accommodate their growing family of four children. Del held a variety of part‑time jobs—Avon representative, waitress at Howard Johnson’s, and Tupperware hostess—while also running “Ye Yarn Barn.” The yarn shop began in a small front room of their home and later expanded into a renovated basement space after the house was sold. Del ran the shop for more than ten years, offering yarn and fiber‑art supplies and teaching knitting and crocheting classes. In addition, she handled the accounting for her husband’s foundation business.

Del and David separated in 1978 and formally divorced in 1978. In 1981, following the closure of the yarn shop and sale of the Brunswick home, Del moved to Marietta, Georgia. She worked for Bernat, a France‑based yarn company she had previously worked with, leveraging her fluency in French. A year later she relocated to Naples, Florida, where she obtained a real‑estate license.

Del helped open the Lely Resort Golf & Country Club and later the Windstar on Naples Bay. She then focused her career at the Grey Oaks golf community in central Naples, where she became the area’s top salesperson, earning multiple awards and accolades for her achievements in the local real‑estate market. She eventually retired but continued to travel extensively—visiting the United States, Europe, and frequent trips to L’Isle Vert and Quebec City, where she enjoyed summers with extended family and celebrated her French‑Canadian heritage.

For the last 25 years of her life, Del lived in the Walden Oaks community in Naples until 2023, when she moved to the Aston Gardens retirement community in North Naples, where she remained until her passing.

Del is survived by her five children—Stephen MacLean of Brunswick, Tracey MacLean of St. Augustine, Florida, Mary MacLean of Bozeman, Montana, Allyson MacLean, and Amanda MacLean of Naples—along with five grandchildren: Joshua MacLean, Savannah MacLean, Zev Bliss, Frankie Bliss, and Carli Bliss. She also leaves behind numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins across the United States and Canada.

A funeral service will be held Monday, October 19, at 1:30 p.m. at Hodges Funeral Home, 525‑111th Avenue North, Naples, Florida. In lieu of flowers, family requests donations be made to St. Matthews House, a homeless shelter and addiction‑resource center that Del supported for many years. Donations can be directed to stmatthewshouse.org.

Del’s life was marked by a deep sense of community, a love of family, and an enduring commitment to service—qualities that will be remembered by those who knew her.