GORHAM and ROCKPORT – Marylee Burt Dodge, 91, died peacefully June 16, 2022, in the company of her family at her home in Gorham.

Born Jan. 8, 1931, in Hartford, Conn. to Leo W. and Ottilie B. Burt, Marylee spent her early life in West Hartford, Conn. She attended the Sedgewick School and Oxford School in West Hartford, graduating from Oxford School in 1948. She then attended Smith College where she gained her undergraduate degree in history in 1952. After graduating from Smith, Marylee took a job as a systems service representative for I.B.M. in Springfield, Mass.

While in Springfield, Mass., Marylee met Charles W. H. Dodge, her soon-to-be husband of 62 years. They married in West Hartford, Conn. in 1959. The two then bought an old farmhouse in Gorham, where they settled down to raise a family. A life long gardener, Marylee worked tirelessly to transform the landscape of their home into a rural oasis of flowers, bushes, and trees. They remained living in that old farmhouse until both of their deaths.

In addition to gardening, Marylee was also especially interested in historic preservation, and environmental conservation. She was a dedicated volunteer and board member for many such local non-profits in southern and mid-coast Maine, where she helped spearhead many projects. She was also an active outdoors-woman who loved to fish, hunt, and ski with her family, and she was an avid collector of antiques and nature ephemera. Marylee could usually be found tending her gardens in Gorham and Rockport, antiquing up and down the East coast, or at home, diligently working the phone for one of her beloved causes.

Marylee was predeceased by her husband, Charles; and her half-brother, Charles Burt.

She is survived by her four children, Charles W. H. Dodge Jr., Gail D. Dodge, Julia B. Dodge and Elizabeth D. Olson; two sons-in-law; and five grandchildren.

Condolences may be shared with the family at http://www.longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 9 Mountain St., Camden.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Marylee’s memory can be made to the Maine Historical Society, the Forest Society of Maine, Coastal Mountains Land Trust, or the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust.