South Gouldsboro
Mary Ann (Efird) Higgins passed away from illness on Dec. 23, 2021, with family by her side. She had an enduring love for sailing, exceeded only by her love for family and community.
Mary Ann was born April 20, 1934, in New York City and grew up sailing and exploring the reaches of Long Island Sound near her childhood home in Douglaston, Queens. She attended New York City P.S. 98, the Dwight School in Englewood, N.J., and Northfield School for Girls in Massachusetts, where she was a three-sport varsity athlete. After graduating high school, she attended Skidmore College, where she competed in four sports and graduated with a degree in physical education. She began her career teaching PE in Schenectady, N.Y., then returned to Northfield, where she taught and coached high school students until starting a family.
Mary Ann met fellow teacher G. Albert Higgins Jr. in 1959 and the two were married Dec. 17, 1960. With their shared summers off and love of the coast, they bought a cruising sailboat and spent their summers sailing the waters from New York to Nova Scotia — first as a couple, and then with their children in tow. In the mid-’60s, they found a home on the Schoodic Peninsula and it became the family’s treasured destination for many summers. In 1983, Mary Ann and Al moved their family to Castine, where they lived until Al’s retirement and an empty nest, upon which time they retired to Gouldsboro.
Throughout her adulthood, Mary Ann supported her community as a devoted volunteer. In Massachusetts in the ’70s, she worked with youth offenders in the Franklin County criminal justice system through the United Way, and she ran many Red Cross blood drives on the campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School. After moving to Gouldsboro, she served on the budget committee and as an election official for the town. In later years, she was active on the board of the Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center.
In addition to her husband, Al, Mary Ann is survived by her children Eric (Christine), Wendy (Marc Craig), and David; her beloved grandchildren, Dylan, Skye and Margot; her grand-dog, Blue; and her brother, Jasper Efird Jr., and his two sons, Robert and Scott, and their families.
True to her wishes, no formal services will be held. Her family will hold a private remembrance this summer, somewhere by the sea between Frenchman Bay and Nova Scotia.
The family wish to thank Danny and Ramona Backman for all the care and assistance they gave to Mary Ann over the last several years, enabling her to live out her final years at home, as was her wish.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center, P.O. Box 322, Ellsworth, ME 04605 (www.bethwrightcancercenter.org) or the Maine Community Foundation, 245 Main St., Ellsworth, ME 04605 (www.mainecf.org).