SOUTH PORTLAND — Mary C. (Bowden) Hasson, 81, died peacefully Jan. 28 at Maine Medical Center from multiple health complications.

She was born in Portland on Sept. 2, 1933, the daughter of Cecil J. and Delia (O’Toole) Bowden. She grew up in Portland and Cape Elizabeth, and was a 1951 graduate of Cape Elizabeth High School. In her class of 41 students, she was voted “most attractive” and “best dressed.”

She married Stephen G. (“Gig”) Hasson on Aug. 31, 1954, and the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last August.

Before becoming a stay-at-home mother, Mary worked as a secretary at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where her husband was stationed during his service in the U.S. Army. The family then resided for many years on Peaks Island and in Portland, before moving to South Portland in the late 1970s.

Hasson’s career included employment with Travelers Insurance, City Service Oil Co. and Tower Publishing. She was hired as one of Portland Public Schools’ first teacher assistants (now educational technicians) at Peaks Island School.

She later served on the Civil Service Board for South Portland, and worked at the Southern Maine Community College bookstore while her husband was the college fire administrator.

Hasson was a communicant of Holy Cross Church, and previously a communicant of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph’s Church and St. Christopher’s Church on Peaks Island. She also served as president of the St. Christopher’s Women’s Council.

Hasson was a passionate and voracious reader who would finish two or three novels a week. Even after her vision declined, she read books on an e-reader until the last few weeks of her life. She also continued to complete daily crossword puzzles in record time, and outperformed family members each evening as they watched her favorite television show, Jeopardy.

She was predeceased by an infant son, John Daniel Hasson, in 1961; her parents; and two brothers, Cecil J. Bowden Jr. and John Bowden.

She is survived by her husband; daughter Kelly Hasson and husband, Nicholas Mavodones Jr., of Portland; three step-grandchildren, Nicholas Mavodones III, of Burlington, Vermont, Joseph Mavodones and wife, Emily Mavodones, of Portland, and Jillian Mavodones, of Portland; and two great-grandchildren, Lydia and Jack Mavodones, of Portland. She also is survived by her sister, Christina (“Tina”) Bowden Smith, of Durham, and several nieces and nephews.

Her family would like to give thanks to her local physicians, Dr. John Reynolds, Dr. Paul Sweeney, Dr. John Love and Dr. Benjamin Smith, as well as Dr. G. William Dec, of Massachusetts General Hospital, for their outstanding and compassionate care over the years.

The family also would like to thank the nurses at Maine Medical Center, the hospitals’s emergency and critical care staff, and the staff at Falmouth by the Sea.

Visiting hours were scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6, from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at Conroy-Tully Crawford South Portland Chapel, 1024 Broadway, South Portland.

Prayers will be recited at the home on Saturday, Feb. 7, at 12:15 p.m., followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 1 p.m. at Holy Cross Church, 124 Cottage Road, South Portland.

A private burial will be held in the spring at Calvary Cemetery in South Portland.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Stephen G. Hasson Scholarship, SMCC Foundation, 2 Fort Road, South Portland, ME 04106; to The Center for Grieving Children, 555 Forest Ave., Portland, ME 04101; or to the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation, P.O. Box 6225, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107.