In Memory of

Nancy

A.

Hunter

Obituary for Nancy A. Hunter

WEST ROCKPORT - Nancy Mae Andrews Hunter left this world on Sunday morning, October 14, 2018 at Sussman House in Rockport, following a long decline. She is now in Heaven with her Savior, rejoicing in the absence of pain. She had lived all but four years of her 87 in West Rockport. She was the daughter of West Rockport natives Sidney Joseph Andrews and Mary Ann Keller Andrews.

She was a born teacher. She substituted frequently in the Camden-Rockport schools. She led 4-H clubs in Union and West Rockport. Through the clubs and with private lessons, she taught hundreds of children how to sew. She was trained to work with learning disabilities, and she tutored extensively in reading and study skills. Sunday school and Vacation Bible School classes also benefitted from her energies.

Nancy loved to read and she loved to sew. At home, she was most likely to be seen with either a book, a sewing project, or a knitting project in her hands. For many years, she made almost all of her own clothes and those of her daughter. Her grandmother, for whom she was named, had taught her to piece and quilt at age ten. Nancy returned to that knowledge in her forties, with a project she took on for her sister-in-law, who was dying of cancer. From that point, for over thirty-five years, she always had multiple quilting projects under way. Her love of fabric and textiles was deep, and she shared it with family and students. Her daughter and son both use these lessons, and the many other things she taught, every day.
Nancy was a person of deep integrity, loyalty, and honesty, coupled with a formidable intellect. She was someone you wanted on your side in life's challenges. Her mettle was tested in local politics, and she served two terms on the SAD 28 school board, ending with two years as chair. Previously she had served as a member and the first secretary of the Rockport Zoning Board of Appeals.

In 1954 she married her high school sweetheart, Vernon B. Hunter. They were together for sixty-four years, sharing parenting, village life, and travel adventures. She took family very seriously, being both the reliable daughter who lived next door to her mother and a careful parent. She and Vernon gardened, and she canned, and their family ate well all winter.
They enjoyed traveling, making three car trips across the country over the years, as well as taking the train across Canada, and flying to Florida a time or two. Visiting family was usually part of the itinerary, and they made the trip to visit her sister in New York several times a year for as long as they were able. Some of her favorite sites were Yellowstone National Park, Mount Rushmore, the California redwoods, and the Canadian Rockies. She long remembered the morning she got to watch sunrise over the Mohave Desert.

Her husband survives her, as do their children Julia Hunter and her husband Tim Bodin, and Christopher Hunter; their grandchildren Susan Van Breems and her husband Lars Van Breems, Heather Schnider, T.C. Bodin and his wife,Cia Bodin; and great-grandchildren Benjamin Van Breems, Connor Schnider, Gwendolyn Schnider, and Ada Bodin. Her many beloved nieces and nephews are scattered across the country. She was predeceased by her sister, Elsie M. Andrews Cobbe and her brother, Dr. Daniel K. Andrews.

A memorial service will be held at the West Rockport Baptist Church at 11 a.m. on November 14, with a reception to follow. Memorial donations may be made to the West Rockport Baptist Church, P.O. Box 221, West Rockport, Maine 04865, or Sussman House, c/o Pen Bay Waldo Healthcare Foundation, 22 White St., Rockland, Maine 04841.