Anne Montgomery Coleman

NORTH YARMOUTH – Anne Montgomery Coleman, of North Yarmouth, Maine and Durango, Colo., born Sept. 26, 1960, died Jan. 12, 2023 after a blessedly brief but brutal battle with aggressive metastatic melanoma.

The daughter of Francis Innes Gowen Coleman and Julia Montgomery Coleman, Anne was born in Rome, Italy when her father was posted to the United States Embassy there. She was a graduate of the University of Montana at Missoula and Mount Desert Island High School.

Annie was a co-founder of 317 Main Street Community Music Center, Yarmouth, Maine (317main.org); she worked at 317 for many years. She is survived by her wife, Trish Friant and her brothers Bruce and Craig Coleman and Peter and Christopher Seymour.

Annie was a caretaker, a seeker and an outdoorswoman. As a child, she adopted and nursed injured animals and birds back to health. As an adult, she and Trish adopted several abandoned dogs, who then lived well-loved lives as members of their family and ours. She was the primary caregiver for both her parents as they aged and became infirm. Even when she was nearing her own end, she retained both her sense of humor and her concern for others rather than for herself.

She moved to the Portland, Maine area after college and purchased her home in North Yarmouth in 1995, where Trish joined her in 1998. Theirs was a welcoming home full of love and of course, dogs. In 2016, they added Durango to their residences, bringing Trish closer to her family and Anne to her beloved trout fishing streams.

A graduate of the NOLS program and an avid kayaker, skier, fisherman, hiker and camper, Annie found ways to meld her extensive wilderness skills and her Masters in Social Work for the benefit of others. From 1985 to 1990, she was the Director of the Teen Adventure Program, an outdoor adventure program in the Greater Portland area. Annie subsequently started and ran her own company, Into the Wild Expeditions, dedicated to reaching out to troubled teenagers through wilderness experiences. In 2004, Annie became a Registered Maine Guide. For several years, Annie also served as co-founder of 317 Maine Community Music Center of Yarmouth, Maine (317main.org), serving her local community through access to music.

Annie lived her life to the fullest, with openness, courage, curiosity, love and caring for others, particularly those lucky enough to be among her extensive group of family and friends. For those many of us who loved her, a warm, joyous, bright light has too soon gone out.

A celebration of life will be held later this summer. Online condolences may be offered at http://www.hobbsfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to:

the Preble Street

Resource Center