She grew up in Boston and spent her summers in at the Minott family home at Phippsburg Center, where she often played the organ for services at the Phippsburg Congregational Church, in her early teens. Ada received her B.A. in 1945 from the University of Maine, Orono, and her master’s in English in 1947.
Ada married Frederick M. Haggett on August 23, 1947, and the couple resided in the Minott house in Phippsburg until 1979 when they relocated to the Dromore region of Phippsburg.
Mrs. Haggett was well known for her interest in the history of Phippsburg and of the Minott shipbuilding and shipping interest. As a lifelong endeavor, she organized records and artifacts from the Minott business and over the years made several significant donations from these resources to the Maine Maritime Museum and other historical institutions in Maine.
Ada was the founding member and the first president of the Phippsburg Historical Society, which was formed in the early 1960s, and led them in the effort to acquire the disused Phippsburg Center one-room schoolhouse and converted it into a town museum; she was very involved in preparing the exhibits and served as a volunteer during opening hours for many years.
She was a key member of the writing and editing team for preparation of the award-winning town history “PHIPPSBURG … Fair to the Wind” published for the town’s sesquicentennial celebration in 1964.
Ada had a passion for music; she loved classical music and opera, and was an accomplished pianist and organist. In the late 1960s she began playing the organ regularly for Masses and other services at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bath and continued to do so for many years.
She was also a supporter of the Phippsburg Land Trust and similar organizations with transfers of property; particularly noteworthy was the 1994 sale of Lee Island, in the Kennebec River off Phippsburg Center, to the state of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife under a National Coastal Wetlands conservation grant.
She is predeceased by her son Charles M. Haggett in 1955, who died at birth.
She leaves behind her loving husband of 65 years, Frederick of Phippsburg; 2 sons, Stephen of Phippsburg and Frederick and his wife Karen of Connifer, Colorado; grandchildren, Catherine, Frederick and his wife Rachel, Caroline and Michael.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Monday, October 7th at 11 a.m. at All Saints Parish, St. Mary’s Church, Lincoln Street, Bath. A reception will follow the Mass at the church. Interment will then take place at Morningside Cemetery in Phippsburg.
To share your thoughts and condolences with the family, please visit www.desmondfuneralhomes.com.
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