Joan Shelby Hayden, who served as president of numerous civic organizations in Portland and Yarmouth, ME, died on August 22nd at the age of 93. She lived at Thornton Oaks in Brunswick in her later years before moving to Vermont to be closer to family.

Born in 1925 in Bourne, MA, and descended from six Mayflower families, as well as Colonel William Claiborne of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, she graduated in 1947 from Mount Holyoke College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. From 1947 to 1951 she was a course assistant at Harvard Business School.

In 1948 she married Richard H. Hayden, and in 1961 they moved with their two children to Greater Portland, where he pursued his banking and legal career and she became active in civic organizations while also working as a professional genealogist. He subsequently became President of Canal Bank, Executive Vice President of Casco Bank, and General Counsel of the University of Maine.

Joan became President of the Maine Historical Society, the first woman president in 160 years. She was President of the Portland Symphony Women’s Committee, a statewide organization sponsoring youth concerts and in other ways advancing the Symphony. She was President of the Maine chapter of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America, before becoming National Registrar for eight years.

In Yarmouth, where they lived, she was President of the

Merrill Memorial Library Trustees, the Village Improvement Society, and the Yarmouth Farm and Garden, among other activities.

She is survived by her son Dr. Jonathan Hayden of Shelburne, VT, and his wife Robin; by her daughter Shelby Hayden Miller of New York, NY, and her husband Henry, and by four grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren, among other close relatives.

Her burial will be at Riverside Cemetery in Yarmouth.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Merrill Memorial Library in Yarmouth, ME or the McClure Miller VNA Respite House in Colchester, VT.