Gilda Ward Thing

BRUNSWICK – Gilda Ward Thing, 95, passed away, peacefully, early in the morning of Nov. 8, 2020 at Avita of Brunswick. Gilda was born in North Conway, N.H. on Jan. 21, 1925 to Adrian Turner Ward and Viola May (Smearer) Ward.

Gilda attended Kennett High school in Conway, N.H., Brunswick High School, and graduated from Cony High School in Augusta in 1942. She was on their women’s basketball teams. After high school she worked in Augusta as an Operator for the telephone company.

She married Robert Shepley Thing in 1943. They lived in Newport until 1957. While in Newport, she was inducted into the Nokomis Chapter of the Eastern Star and became a Worthy Matron in 1956. In 1957, she and her family relocated to Brunswick.

Gilda was very accomplished and well respected. For many years, she was a Poll worker in Brunswick, served as a Deaconess of the First Parish Church, and was a chaperone for the Brunswick Junior High School Band which marched in Kennedy’s Inaugural Parade. She was an avid reader, could complete most crossword puzzles, sewed and knit, and enjoyed making knit caps for newly born babies for the local hospitals. For a few years, she was a telephone operator at the Brunswick Naval Air Station and liked to tell the story of how the switchboard ‘lite up like a Christmas Tree’ during the evening of the Cuban Missile crises. She nearly always had a cat, sometimes more than one, and she enjoyed raising and giving Maine Coon cat kittens to friends.

For many years, she and her husband sailed the coast of Maine on old wooden sailboats. In later years she and her husband lived in Harpswell in the summers and Florida in the winters. They had many friends and entertained often.

She is survived by her children, Hollace Ann Jones of Sparks, Nev., Robert Steven Thing and his wife Claudette of Portland, and Christopher Ward Thing and his wife Janice Chick of Harpswell. She is also survived by her sisters, Helen Ackley of Kennebunk, Shirley McLaughlin of Scarborough, and brother Adrian Ward of Naples. She is also survived by granddaughter Jane Miller and her husband Mark Miller and great-grandchildren Andrew Miller and Elizabeth Miller all of Truckee, Calif. Gilda was predeceased by her parents; her husband of 61 years, a sister Charlotte Lord, and brothers Frank Ward and Gary Ward.

Memories and condolences can be shared at http://www.brackettfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, consider making a contribution in memory of Gilda to:

Midcoast Humane Society

190 Pleasant St.

Brunswick, ME 04011


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