PHIPPSBURG — Annie Perry Haskell, 93, died in her sleep on Feb. 5.

She was born Sept. 29, 1918, in Newton, Mass., to Frederick Gardiner and Helen Whitehead Perry.

She attended Wellesley, Mass., schools, graduated from Wellesley High School in 1939 and later from Perry Normal School in Boston. She then taught at Wellesley College Demonstration Nursery School. In 1944 she was awarded a bachelor of science degree in education from Boston University. She was a substitute teacher in the Needham, Mass. school system in 1945 and 1946.

On Nov. 25, 1942, she married Dexter P. Nichols in Boston. They had two children together before he died in 1953. She then became the assistant supervisor of practice teachers at the Perry Normal School in Boston.

On April 16, 1955, she married Ernest Haskell Jr. in Cambridge, Mass., with whom she had two children. They moved to Maine, and for over 20 years she taught nursery school at Learning Land in Brunswick and volunteered as a teacher’s aid at Phippsburg Elementary School. She was widowed in 1973.

She loved the natural world and for over 50 years lived on the shore of the ocean where she gardened, watched the birds and fished in the cove. She loved books, art and classical music. She painted sea and landscapes with watercolors. She also loved food and was an adventuresome cook. Haskell lived a full, creative life and was an inspiration to her family and friends.

Haskell is survived by her sons Richard Nichols and his wife, Joannie, of Phippsburg and Ernest Haskell III and his wife, Sally, of Woodbridge, Va.; daughters Auralie Nichols LaChance and her husband, Jim, of Enfield, Conn. and Helen Haskell Remien and her husband, Cam, of Ishpeming, Mich.; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; brother John C. Perry and his wife, Anne, of Cundy’s Harbor; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was a lifelong member of the Swedenborgian Church. A memorial service will be held at the Church of the New Jerusalem in Bath in the summer with Rev. George Dole and Rev. F. Gardiner Perry officiating.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Phippsburg Fireman’s Association, Phippsburg Fire Department, P.O. Box 83, Phippsburg, ME 04562.


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