Anita Helen Mudd Howe, died peacefully at her beloved Southport Island home on June 12, 2017.

She was born September 13, 1925, in Berwyn, Illinois to Joseph Augustine Mudd Jr., and Helen Neyer Mudd. She was proud to have achieved 91 years and 9 months of age.

She lived in Chicago until she was 21. She studied art at Rosemont College in Philadelphia. The day after her 21st birthday she married Guy Butman Howe Jr., son of Carolyn Heal Dow and Guy Butman Howe of Winchester, Massachusetts and Westport Island, Maine where a family compound still exists. Rumor has it that Guy proposed in a cemetery as that was the only place they could be alone.

Her first trip to Westport Island was in 1944 for Guy’s graduation from Maine Maritime Academy. It was during the war so no lights were allowed. It was quite something for this Chicago “city girl” to arrive in pitch darkness only to find no running water, no working electricity and “facilities” that could only be accessed by crossing a boardwalk in the woods!

After their marriage, Anita and Guy moved to Andover, Massachusetts where they lived for 27 years raising four children, Pam, Bruce, Alan and Justin. While in Andover, Anita and four of her closest friends founded the Andona Society on March 31, 1952, a charitable organization dedicated to helping the youth of Andover. Recently honored as the first president. Andona has remained an active award winning charitable organization for 65 years.

In 1962, she and Guy purchased a home on Landing Road, Southport on Townsend Gut across from Oak Point. They purchased the home from George (“Doc”) Rockwell, the vaudevillian, and Madeline Meredith, a former Ziegfeld Follies dancer. Anita moved to Southport permanently in 1972 and, being quite social, became involved in many local organizations. For 15 years, she was social secretary for the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club and a member for over 50 years. She and Elsie Plummer started Thursday night cocktail parties where the hors d’oeuvre of choice was cream cheese wrapped in bologna! She participated actively in the Garden Club, the Hospital Auxiliary, and Southport Summer Residents Association. She was also involved in the Book and Stock Clubs when she was still able to see and get about.

She had a passion for interior design, and decorated her home in bright colors, patterns, vases of flowers throughout the house, and her collection of paintings by Maine artists who were friends and neighbors.

She retained her “city” upbringing and an “earlier time” in her sense of elegance and appreciation of the finer things in life such as white table cloths, candles lit at dinner, and manners. But, she was also a child at heart never tiring of balloons for her birthday, chocolate chip cookies anytime, and stuffed animals on her pillow. Everyone she met was placed in her address book, their birthdays duly noted. For most of her life, as long as she could see, she never forgot a birthday.

For many years, she spent winters in Vero Beach, Florida and was a member of the Moorings Club. But, her heart was in Maine. When asked why she didn’t travel she would say, “I live in the most beautiful place on earth. Why would I want to go anywhere else?” She loved its peacefulness, tranquility and the beauty of her surroundings. She had a great love of flowers, her gardens, the many birds who flocked to her feeders and all the little creatures who would come and visit - except attic invading squirrels!!

She is survived by her brother, Dr. Charles A. Mudd of Evanston, Illinois; four children, Pam (David) Parsons of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Bruce (Peggy Allen) Howe of Mendon, Massachusetts, Alan (Gail Hanner- Spalding) Howe of Banner Elk, North Carolina, and Justin (Nona Mitchell) Howe of Buena Vista, Colorado; nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and her sister in-law, Sarah Bassett Howe of Westport Island.

A celebration of her life will be held and announced later in the summer. She is at peace. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Boothbay Region Food Pantry, The Boothbay Region Ambulance Service or the Andona Society, P.O. Box 256, Andover, MA 01810.