Merike Mand Poldvee, 81, passed away suddenly at a nursing home in Agawam, MA, on December 17, after having been ill for several years.  She was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1936 and lived through the Nazi and Russian occupations of her homeland during the Second World War.  In September of 1944 she escaped with her family from Estonia, sailing across the Baltic Sea to freedom in Sweden.  After living in Stockholm for two years, the Mand family immigrated to the United States in 1946, settling in Rockport, MA, where her father, the Rev. Dr. Ewald Mand, became pastor of The First Baptist Church. In 1954 her father accepted a call from the First Baptist Church of Amherst to become its pastor, a post he held until his retirement. 

Merike attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 5-year nursing school and graduated with a bachelor of science degree and an RN.  Her career as a nurse spanned her lifetime and she worked in hospitals in Boston, MA, and Toronto, Canada.  Merike also was a nursing instructor at Cooley Dickenson Hospital, when it had a nursing school.  Later she became a Visiting Nurse for the Hadley and Amherst area until her retirement.

Merike is survived by her daughter, Esther Poldvee, of Haverhill, MA, and by her brother Elmet Mand of Glastonbury, CT, and her sister Tahti Mand Carter of Point Pleasant, NJ.

A Memorial Service will be held at The First Baptist Church of Amherst on Friday, December 29, 2017, at 11:00 a.m.