HARPSWELL — Norma Frances Jannell McLoughlin, 84, formerly of Otter Brook Road, died Aug. 12 at Mere Point Nursing Home in Brunswick, surrounded by her children. A victim of dementia, she had been a resident of Mere Point for several years.

McLoughlin was born in Portland to Forrest and Eleanor (Bruns) Jannell on April 29, 1930. She was educated in Portland, graduating from Deering High School in 1947 and from Westbrook Junior College in 1949 with a degree in secretarial sciences.

After college, she worked as a legal secretary in Portland and began singing in the choir at her church. There, she met her future husband, James “Jim” G. McLoughlin. They were married on March 15, 1958.

While in New York, Fowler continued her career as secretary to the director of Lamont Geological Observatory, a division of Columbia University. The family moved to Brunswick in 1970, and she and her husband formed a publishing company, Harpswell Press. When that business came to an end, she joined the staff of Bowdoin College’s Office of Communications for 15 years, retiring in 2000.

McLoughlin was a breast-cancer survivor and volunteered for The American Cancer Society, frequently participating in its Survivor’s Walk in the Relay For Life. She also volunteered with the Red Cross.

An active member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church since 1970, she served as its secretary and president. She also contributed her beautiful soprano voice to the church choir.

McLoughlin was a self-described “tree hugger” who loved flower gardens, animals, the ocean and all aspects of nature. As a young woman, she was an avid horseback rider, skier and Girl Scout.

McLoughlin was predeceased by her husband, Jim, on March 31, 2014; her stepson, Terrence McLoughlin, in 2010; her parents, Forrest and Eleanor; brothers Arthur, Robert and Raymond Jannell; and a sister, Dorothy Grant.

She is survived by her daughter, Anne McLoughlin, and husband, Alan Hummer, of Brunswick; son, John McLoughlin, and wife, Elizabeth Peavey, of Portland; daughter-in-law, Arlene McLoughlin, of Bloomingburg, New York; grandchildren Michael McLoughlin and wife, Alice, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Susan and Thomas McLoughlin, of Bloomingburg, and Jared and Kristen Hummer, of Brunswick; great-grandchildren Anna and Oliver McLoughlin, of Bloomingburg; and her sister, Florence Morris, of Portland.

The McLoughlin family would like to acknowledge the exceptional care and compassion provided by her “other family,” the staff at Mid Coast Senior Health.

A funeral was scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 21, at 3 p.m., at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 330 Maine St., Brunswick.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or to the American Cancer Society.

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