Mary Lou Townley Swasey, of Damariscotta, died peacefully at her home on June 19. The cause of death was kidney cancer.
Mary Lou was born in 1936 in Schenectady, N.Y. to Earl E. and Jess Townley who were wonderful supportive parents. Living in a small village she had the distinction of attending one school, Burnt Hills Ballston Lake Central School, for 12 years, from first grade through high school.
Mary Lou graduated from Bates College in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree and from Lesley University with a master’s degree in education. Her 36-year teaching career included positions in primary and higher education throughout the United States. She taught at the college level in New York state and private schools in Hawaii. She taught at public schools in Connecticut and California and for the latter portion of her career in Newton, Mass. A creative and dedicated teacher, she welcomed new and innovative ideas in education and enjoyed team teaching. Her project-oriented classrooms inspired her students with a lifelong love for learning and the facility to work actively in small groups and as individuals. She loved teaching.
In addition to her commitment to education, Mary Lou enjoyed a lifelong passion for world travel and adventure. Shortly after college graduation, she embarked upon a transatlantic voyage to Europe aboard the original Queen Mary for her first international tour. Later travel included such diverse destinations as Tasmania, Finland, Malawi, Siberia, Ukraine, Estonia, Iceland and most recently four winter trips with husband Ken to New Zealand. She spent many summers hiking in England and Scotland. She enjoyed different cultures and though not a linguist she understood English with many strange accents.
Mary Lou was an enthusiastic gardener and an ardent reader of fiction and non-fiction. She remained in close communication with friends from high school and college, as well as teaching colleagues from the U.S. and abroad.
After retiring in 1995, Mary Lou married Kenneth Swasey on the shore of the Great Salt Bay. She first met Ken in Hawaii 30 years earlier. Following their wedding in Damariscotta, the couple moved to the Bay area of California for three years until Ken’s retirement in 1998. That year they returned to Damariscotta, and built a home on the Great Salt Bay.
Soon thereafter, Mary Lou became involved in a host of local volunteer activities which included, among others, Cooperative Extension, Ladies Aid at Bunker Hill, the Traveler’s Information Booth in Damariscotta, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, the Edgecomb Congregational Church and the Miles Hospital League. She was chair of the Miles Memorial Hospital House and Garden Tour for two years.
She is survived by her husband, Kenneth Swasey of Damariscotta; step-sons, Brian Swasey of California, Ronald Swasey of Washington state; three step-grandchildren, Jennifer Swasey, Benjamin Swasey, both of Washington state, and Laura Swasey of Germany; brother, Lawrence Townley and wife Barbara of Damariscotta; niece, Mary Townley and partner Carol Schall of Richmond, Va.; grandniece, Emily Townley of Richmond, Va.; and nephew, Lawrence R. Townley and wife Frances Marchankevicz of Ashland, Mass.
Memorial service 1:30 p.m., Fri., June 26 at the Bunker Hill Church in Jefferson.
Contributions in memory of Mary Lou may be made to Endowment Fund, Harold Alfond Children’s Garden at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, P.O. Box 234, Boothbay, ME 04537.
Arrangements are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home, Waldoboro.
