Nellie Coulter 1934 – 2021 ORR’S ISLAND – Nellie Aletha Coulter, 86, of Orr’s Island, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Friday, March 12, 2021. She was born in North Adams, Mass. on Oct. 29, 1934, the daughter of Wilmetta Irene Marsh Coulter and Alton Numan Coulter. Nellie grew up on Mount Hope Farm in Williamstown, Mass. Growing up in a small town and in a loving family, Nellie enjoyed playing piano duets with her sister Dorothy, playing card games with her family, including her brother Howard, in the evenings, and swimming in Cheshire Lake at their family camp. As a teenager, Nellie was a counselor at the local Girl Scout camp and was head majorette of her high school’s band. After graduating from Williamstown High School, Nellie attended Henry W. Bishop Memorial School of Nursing, earning her RN in 1955. Later in life, Nellie earned a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner degree from USM and Maine Medical Center in 1971 and a Bachelor of Science Degree from St. Joseph’s College in 1983. Nellie was a nurse throughout her life. As a young nurse, she worked as a psychiatric nurse in New York City and a pediatric nurse at Yale Medical Center in New Haven. Later, she became the first school nurse for MSAD 75, developing the health services for the whole district, traveling weekly the first year to all the district elementary schools as well as maintaining an office at Mt. Ararat School. After five years, she moved to the Camden area, where she worked as a health educator for an Adolescent Health Care Program. Broadening her nursing experiences, she next worked as the director of Student Health Services for St. Joseph’s College, then as a head nurse for the Psychiatric Unit at Jackson Brook Institute in South Portland, and afterwards as the Health Care Supervisor at Sweetser Children’s Home in Saco. Finally, Nellie returned to MSAD 75 in 1991 to be the school nurse for Woodside and Williams-Cone Elementary Schools, retiring in 2004. Nellie loved nursing, especially working with children and their parents. Nellie lived many places throughout her life. From a small, rural town in Massachusetts to New York City and New Haven, from Palo Alto and Los Angeles to the coast of Maine. She loved traveling and exploring new places with friends and family, including the redwood forests and deserts of California, the woods and the ocean bays of Maine, the Maritime provinces of Canada with her daughters, England and Ireland with her granddaughters, and the southwestern US with her sister and brother-in-law. Nellie enjoyed camping, sailing, going to the beach, walking every day, and was an avid reader. Nellie loved being around people and had many friends. She enjoyed spending time with her family, including hosting wonderful holiday gatherings, cooking and baking with her family, walking and playing by the ocean, and being a strong presence and source of support for those she loved. Nellie cared deeply for people, giving to many charities and volunteering. She led a full life. Nellie was a loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was predeceased by her daughter, Sally Coulter Brooks. She leaves behind her daughter Mary Theberge and son-in-law David Theberge of Orr’s Island; granddaughter Ashleigh Theberge and her husband James Brittin and their sons Myron and Thurston of Seattle; and granddaughter Amanda (Emmie) Theberge and her husband Joel Johnson and their sons Louis and Leon of Hallowell. Nellie was dearly loved, touched many lives, and she will be greatly missed. The family plans to wait until late summer or fall for a memorial gathering.

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