Cynthia E. Mowles

SACO – Longtime Saco resident and former School Superintendent Cynthia E. Mowles passed away on Jan. 18, 2026, at Seal Rock Health Care in Saco. As all the women in the family lied about their ages for decades, we can only assume that her well-lived life took her into her 80’s. The daughter of Henry and Eleanor Mowles, Cynthia grew up in Candia, N.H., and attended Manchester Central High School. As a French major at UNH, she was a member of the Phi Mu sorority, graduating in 1960. Education was her passion. Arriving at her first teaching job in a yellow Mustang convertible, a tall beehive hairdo, and her trademark bright red nail polish, Cynthia later moved on to school administration and worked for many years at the New Hampshire Department of Education as an Early Childhood Education Consultant. She obtained her doctoral degree from Boston College and was very active with the AAUW (American Association of University Women), championing gender equity and advocating for women in underrepresented fields. Dr. Mowles served as Superintendent of Schools in both New Hampshire and Maine (Saco, Dayton, Cape Elizabeth, and Oxford Hills). After retiring, she remained very active, traveling to Marco Island, joining garden clubs, supporting women in politics, taking Senior College classes, and watching the Red Sox finally win a World Series. Cynthia loved bright colors, abstract sculptures, and flowers to the point of embarrassing her family by cutting flowers in people’s yards, uninvited. She spent many happy summers enjoying her very purple and pink cottage on Peaks Island in Casco Bay.

Cynthia was predeceased by her sister Patricia Weeks and survived by her nieces, Deborah Johnson and Sharon Whitten, as well as grand niece and nephew, Jenna Davis and Tucker Johnson, and their spouses.

Instead of traditional memorials, please consider a donation to the Peaks Island Fund to celebrate her love of life (https://www.peaksislandfund.org/give).