BAILEY ISLAND — Jean Ann Doughty, of Bailey Island, passed away on Sept. 30, 2014, at the age of 92 in Brunswick at the Horizon Living and Rehab Center following a long battle with dementia. She was born in Quincy, Mass., on June 2, 1923, the daughter of Philip R. and Alexandria Ann (MacLean) Allen.

Although she was a home body, she lived with her uncle’s family in San Diego, Calif., during her junior high year attending Herbert Hoover High School. She returned home to graduate the following year in the class of 1941 from North Quincy High School in Quincy, Mass.

During her summers beginning in 1938, she was recruited from the supply of family teenagers to work on Bailey Island in the busy dining hall and later the gift shop of her cousin, Percy Allen and his wife Bea, who were the founders of Jaquish Inn and Cabins and Whispering Pines Land’s End Gift Shop. During her fourth summer, she met her future husband, Elroy F. “Wink” Doughty. They were married Sept. 8, 1941, in Brunswick, Maine.

For many years she was a feature writer and photographer for The Maine Coast Fisherman, The National Fisherman and The Brunswick Record. She also wrote a weekly column, “Dory Mates,” which described the life and trials of the Maine lobstermen. Two of her columns were entered into the Congressional Record by Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, who championed the ocean industries. Winters, when her husband was building plank boats, she worked beside him doing the jobs assigned her. During the years of plentiful shrimp, she worked packing for the Scandia Company.

She was an avid bird watcher, and each year, she and her husband took people out in their lobster boat to do the annual bird count. For many years, she enjoyed lobstering with her husband, as his “stern man.” As they worked, she amused herself by collecting and identifying seashells to add to her extensive collection. Other interests were antique bottles and rocks. Snowy winter evenings were spent playing the guitar and cribbage with her husband. She enjoyed her dogs and obedience training them.

Before it was common practice, she was an avid recycler and organic gardener. Gardens were well tended, and in the fall, she canned many vegetables and pickles for meals. Her gardens also contained many varieties of flowers from which bouquets were donated to the church. She was a protector of Mother Earth and an outspoken opponent of spraying on the island for mosquitoes with the very toxic DDT.

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When her husband became ill, she devoted her time in helping him recuperate from a debilitating stroke. He passed away in 2002.

Later in life, she joined the island church, and for several years, she, along with others, operated the rummage sale in the vestry.

She is predeceased by her two brothers, Donald Allen and Eben Allen, and her sister, Phyllis Wolf.

She is survived by a daughter, Ann Alexander and her husband, Bernard of Cundy’s Harbor, a granddaughter, Mary Hollingshead and her husband, Roger, and their sons Wesley and Aaron of Cundy’s Harbor, and a granddaughter Sarah Clemons, her husband Wayne and their girls, Hannah and Amanda of Harpswell. She is also survived by several nieces, nephews and cousins.

There will be a private committal service at the Bailey Island cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction and care of Brackett Funeral Home in Brunswick.

In lie of flowers, donations may be made to the Orr’s-Bailey’s Island Rescue Fund.



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