Anne Elizabeth Harwood

We lost our beloved Anne in the early evening of April, 23rd, to a sudden pneumonia. She fought valiantly, and with incredible dignity and courage, for the last seven years against Multiple System Atrophy, or MSA, which was initially diagnosed as Parkinson’s. Throughout the course of her disease, she showed everyone the miraculous ability of the human spirit to transcend illness and disability, to rise above the limitations of the body and to bring beauty, laughter and love to those around her.

Anne Elizabeth Harwood (née Anne Wheeler Harwood) was born on September 18th, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Anna Wheeler Snow and Bartlett Harwood, Jr. She grew up in Chestnut Hill, MA, as the second of six siblings, a quiet, sensitive, and artistic child among the hubbub of a large, active family. She attended The Park School and The Chestnut Hill School, and graduated from The Winsor School in 1965. While she was introspective from an early age, she also had a delightful sense of humor and fun. An often told family story involves her riding her bicycle down a hill near her house upside down, balancing her head on the seat. She spent every summer on North Haven Island, Maine, surrounded by a large extended family of cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents and close family friends. North Haven was a spiritual home for her, and it was there that she initially developed her devotion to the natural world, and her enduring loves of gardening, painting, and sailing. She continued going there every summer for 65 years.

She attended Vassar College, and after graduating, moved to Berkeley, California, with her first husband, Gordon Magill, then subsequently to Santa Rosa, CA. She had two daughters, Molly and Rose, who were the lights of her life. She took huge joy and satisfaction in motherhood, and was immensely proud of the relationship of deep love, admiration and trust that she built with her daughters over her lifetime. She studied painting and color theory at the Rudolf Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco, and began a lifelong development of her considerable artistic talents. After her divorce, she started taking classes at Sonoma State University, earning a second B.A. in social work.

In 1995, Anne moved to Portland, then Falmouth, Maine, after 26 years in California. Acknowledging her privileged upbringing, she always felt a keen desire to give back, and earned her Masters degree in social work from the University of New England. She worked first as a social worker with the homeless population in Portland, then for several years as a mediator at her own practice, Harwood & McDowell, which she founded with a close friend. She found fulfillment and comfort in spiritual communities, first as a Methodist, then as a Quaker and longtime member of the Portland Friends Meeting. She served as Co-Clerk of the Meeting, and was also one of the founding members of the board of the Friends School of Portland. A truly gentle and humble person, she never called attention to herself, but was always quietly behind the scenes doing what needed to be done.

She met her second husband, Thomas Foote, at the Portland Friends Meeting and after marrying, they bought a farm in Bowdoinham. She spent her last healthy years doing what she did with every house she ever owned—finding potential in something modest and dated, renovating it into a gracious and welcoming home, and designing and creating a beautiful garden around it. She also found new energy and joy in her painting, and painted many landscapes of Bowdoinham, North Haven, Monhegan Island, and Katahdin. On a whim she bought a black Pearson Ensign, which she named Starling. Sailing gave her immense pleasure, and she spent every summer weekend she could out on Casco Bay. She continued sailing Starling until her very last years, even at the point where her legs had failed her, and she had to be carried down the gangway and placed in the boat.

She loved being a grandmother, and was immodestly proud of her four grandchildren, Isabella, Julia, Charlie and Anna. She loved creating and playing games with them, sewing, knitting, and making things together. She taught them to explore the natural world with an adventurous spirit, to bake and cook, and to create art. She loved hosting wonderful dinners, get-togethers and parties for her family, and was never happier than when she was surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

Anne’s family would like to thank her many caregivers, particularly the spectacular Carolyn Ewald and Debbie Argereow, who brought so much laughter, tender care and dignity to her final chapter. They would also like to thank her incredible network of friends and angels who tirelessly drove her to appointments, brought her groceries, and called and visited her for the past several years.

Anne’s gentle spirit lives on in her daughters, granddaughters and grandson. She is predeceased by her parents and her sister, Gail, and survived by her two daughters, Molly Meyer of South Freeport, and Rose Splint of Falmouth, their husbands, Dan Meyer and Aaron Splint, and her four beloved grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings, Hilary Harwood, of North Garden, VA, William Harwood of Yarmouth, ME, Elizabeth Dow of Nokomis, FL, and Lt. Col. Bartlett Harwood III of Orford, NH.

Details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date when safe gatherings are possible. Until then, donations in her memory will be gratefully accepted at the following organizations:

Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), Maine Audubon, or, Natural Resources Council of Maine