Anne “Nancy” Eliot Hiatt, 92, died peacefully on May 9 at Maine Medical Center, after a day full of some songs and visits with children and grandchildren. She recognized the faces and knew the names of the visiting family members, each being “darling.”
Born in Boston on Feb. 21, 1921 to Samuel Eliot and Anne Brown Bradley (Eliot), she excelled at horse riding and sports. She attended The Windsor School, Shipley, Miss Porter’s School and Beaver Country Day School, and wherever she went she made friends, many of whom turned into lifelong friends.
She wore a red dress at her debut party, learned how to pluck chickens during the war, and served as a candy-striper. She fell in love with Chicagoan Charles Walker Field, who attended school nearby. They married in 1944, settled briefly in NYC, and then built their home in Sneden’s Landing, Palisades, N.Y., had five children, who in turn have each had children, so she has 10 grandchildren. She now has five great-grandchildren, and another on its way!
Walker died unexpectedly in 1959, leaving her reeling and learning how to cope and carry on, which became her life’s mantra. She did just that and in 1963 married Robert B. Hiatt, who, many years after they had retired to a farm in Dresden, died (1990). On she went, later moving to Portland where she attended classes at OLLI (senior college) and read more books than she had ever seen in her younger years.
She loved nature, family and community. She was grounded in her farm life, hosting and teaching grandchildren about animals and the seasons, serving The Lincoln County Historical Society, arranging an agricultural conservation easement on her farm, and supporting numerous other land- and historic-preservation efforts.
She is survived by her children, Carolyn Field, Eliot Field, Samuel Field, Rebecca Field Kraai, and Rosamond Field; grandchildren, Zerin Whyte, Erony Whyte Martin, Jesse Field, Molly Field James, Tyler Field, Cody Field, Corrie Kraai, Abby Kraai, Ivory Strzalkowski, and Tessa Strzalkowski; and great-grandchildren, Stella Field, Coral and Royce Field, Katherine James, and Annette Martin.
Celebration of her life 2 p.m., Sat., May 18 at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke at 143 State St., Portland.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Maine Coast Heritage Trust, 1 Bowdoin Mill Is., Suite 201, Topsham, ME 04086, or Morris Farm Trust, PO Box 136, Wiscasset, ME 04578.
Arrangements are by Daigle Funeral Home, 819 High St., Bath.