BRUNSWICK – Pauline “Tinker” Hannaford, 93, died peacefully in her sleep on Sunday, March 2, 2025, after a short illness. 

Tinker was born in Columbus, Ohio, on Dec. 26, 1931, to Henry and Lydia (Liechty) Thielman. She and her younger brother, John, grew up in Ames, Iowa, where their Mennonite parents tried to model the “simple life”. She won a scholarship to Radcliffe and graduated in 1953 as a math major. While at Radcliffe, she met her future husband, Reginald “Reg” Hannaford, and they were married in 1954. The two of them shared a love of learning and exploration and did this together until Reg died in 2020, just short of their sixty-sixth wedding anniversary

Reg and Tinker lived in the Brunswick area for much of their lives. After renting in Topsham for a year, they moved to Durham Road, Brunswick, to renovate an old farmhouse, later moving to McKeen Street and, finally, for the past nine months of her life, Tinker lived at Thornton Oaks.

Before her marriage, Tinker was Head of Math and Science at the Prospect Hill Country Day School in Newark, N.J. Her first job after they wed was at a new Route 128 start-up company working on analog computers. She quit for conscientious reasons when it turned out to involve military income and strategy (which was not how they had represented themselves when she applied).

She managed to get a job at the Friends Service Committee in Cambridge, Mass. This, in turn, led to Reg taking his first job at Oakwood School, a Friends school in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. From that point forward, Reg’s successful teaching career determined the path of Tinker’s life. While she partnered him and mothered six children, they moved to England, Brunswick, Israel and back to Maine.

A growing interest in Judaism led Reg and Tinker to convert. This, in turn, led Reg to accept faculty positions in Israel, where he taught first on sabbatical at Tel Aviv University (1968-1969) and later at the University of Haifa (1972-1975). During much of this period, the family lived at Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, Israel. While on the kibbutz, Tinker ran the nursery school house for 2 to 4-year-olds.

When they moved back to Maine, Tinker worked as the Director of the Brunswick Recreation Department Preschool, which served over 100 children a year. After 10 years, she resigned in protest at the management not giving the other teachers the same employee benefits that she had. She then worked as a high school special education teacher until she started work on her third master’s degree.

She was a lifelong learner, receiving a double Masters in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from the University of Maine in 1971. As part of her Special Education degree, Tinker wrote and published a children’s novel entitled ‘The Bomb Scare Mystery’. She obtained her Master in Social Work from UNE at the age of 60. Her oldest son came to her graduation. Tinker said, “I felt really proud. I don’t think my Radcliffe degree meant as much to me.” Following her degree, Tinker worked as a social work counselor for an agency serving children from low-income families for five years.

After retiring, she volunteered at Hawthorne School and the Food Pantry. She joined the Boards of the Congregation Beth Israel in Bath and Tedford Housing and was active member of Temple Beth El in Augusta.

Tinker and Reg enjoyed going to music and theatre events and travelling, especially to visit their children and grandchildren. They also travelled to Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Russia, Egypt, Jordan and the Czech Republic, to name just some of the countries they visited.

Tinker continued to be active right up until her death, playing bridge, reading and contributing to her book group, doing crossword puzzles, knitting socks for the donation box at The Gathering Place (a day shelter for the poor and homeless), and participating in Torah (Bible) study classes.

Her passion throughout her life was helping others, particularly the disadvantaged and people and children who had experienced personal challenges. She touched an enormous number of people during her life and will be sorely missed.

She is survived by her six children, Elizabeth Beraha, Priscilla Dorrance, Chris Hannaford, Peter Hannaford, Susannah Hannaford and Abby Hannaford-Ricardi; 13 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren, with a third due to be born this month.

Condolences may be made online at http://www.DaigleFuneralHome.com