Obituary: Mary Eileen (Gillespie) Hunter
Mary Eileen Hunter, a beloved matriarch who shaped nearly seven decades of family life across Maine and beyond, died June 9 at her home in Scarborough. She was 98.
Born December 22, 1927, in the Gillespie Settlement of Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Hunter was the sixth of 15 children raised by George and Elizabeth Kavanaugh Gillespie. The large family she grew up in would prove good preparation for the expansive household she would later help create.
In October 1959, she married Eugene A. Hunter, a young widower with four children, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Grand Falls. The couple made their first home in Bath, Maine, where Eugene taught and coached basketball. Hunter embraced her role as the center of their growing blended family, raising his children alongside any future additions.
Over the following decades, the family moved with Eugene's education career to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, before eventually returning to Maine, settling in South Portland and later Cape Elizabeth.
While Eugene earned public recognition for his accomplishments as a coach and educator, family members said he often credited his wife as the silent force behind his achievements. According to those close to the couple, Eugene noted that his many awards hanging in their home required two pairs of hands to mount, and that Hunter's unwavering support made his success possible.
After Eugene's retirement, the couple downsized to Scarborough, moving into a condominium adjacent to the Willowdale Golf Course. It was there that Hunter discovered her own passion.
Despite taking up the sport later in life, Hunter quickly developed a skilled game that made her a dominant presence at Willowdale. She won the women's club championship multiple times and became a fixture at the course, working in the pro shop and lunch counter. Her warmth and dedication to the game earned her a special place among the golfing community.
Faith also played a central role throughout her life. She was a communicant of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Scarborough, where she was known for living her beliefs through daily acts of kindness toward friends, neighbors and strangers alike.
Hunter was preceded in death by her husband Eugene, her parents, and 11 siblings including Rita Sullivan, May Bishop, Bertha Kuntz, Edward Gillespie, Dorothy Earlin Gillespie, Bernard Gillespie, Joe Gillespie, John Gillespie, Marie Finlayson, and an infant sister, Beatrice Anne Gillespie.
She is survived by her seven children: Mark Hunter (Debbie) of Scarborough, E. Allen Hunter (Jane), Marcia Hunter (Peter Wolinsky), George Hunter (Dee), Paul Hunter (Julia), Stephanie Ochsner (Todd), and Dawn Rioux (Rick). She also leaves behind siblings Stephen Gillespie, Anne Schofp, Agnes Rosteski (Frank), and Joan Tweedie (Robert), along with 22 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life will be held in the fall. Hunter will be interred alongside her husband at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Caribou.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions honor her memory through acts of kindness to others.
