Jackie Ammons

Jackie Ammons BRUNSWICK -- Mary Emily Catherine Johnson Ammons, known to her friends as Jackie, died on May 10, 2009, at her home in Brunswick. Ms. Ammons was born on Dec. 9, 1926, in Hawthorne, N.J. to Margaret Doiron of PEI, Canada. At 3 years old, her mother's sister, Emily and husband, Henry Nolan, of Somerville, Mass., became her parents. A 1946 graduate of Mt. Ida Junior College, Newton Centre, Mass., she went on to receive a commission as an officer in the U.S. Army. While stationed in Washington, D.C. she met Richard F. Ammons. They were married Oct. 8, 1950. Ms. Ammons left the army while Richard became a career military man. Their Air Force life together included having five children born in various places around the world, and ended in divorce in 1968. Ms. Ammons returned with her children to the place she always considered home, New England. They settled in Bath in the fall of 1969. She raised her children simultaneously working various full-time jobs and continuing her education. With extraordinary persistence, she strived to improve herself as well as provide support for her children, by working as a registered nurse, a Director of Nurses, and later administrator of the Brunswick Convalescent Center. With a BS in nursing from the University of Nev., Ms. Ammons continued school at night and received her Master of Counseling at USM in 1973. She further attended and distinguished herself at the Kantor Family Institute in Brookline, Mass. For over 30 years, Ms. Ammons practiced as a psychotherapist. She was adept at observing and understanding human behavior, particularly those in the context of relationships within marriages and families. Ms. Ammons had a charismatic presence. She was intellectually gifted, an incisive conversationalist and a skilled and dedicated adviser. She was appreciated and loved by her patients as much as by her family and friends. Ms. Ammons is survived by her children and their spouses: Richard, Susan (& Tom) Boyle, Patrice (& Douglas) Lynch, Gregory, and Jeffrey (& Karen) Ammons; her seven grandchildren: Beth, Jesse, Jennifer, Mariah, Matthew, Joshua, and Emily; and her two great-grandchildren, Sarah and Padraic. Ms. Ammons is also survived by several nieces and nephews. Ms. Ammons has been an inspiration to her family and friends. Where she sought to be touched by the world as meaningfully and succinctly as possible, she too has touched others. Her ashes will be scattered from the stern of a boat onto the Maine seawaters on an outgoing tide, continuing a cycle of leaving and returning now on those tidal waters: in perpetuity, as she did in life. A celebration of life gathering to be announced at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to: Hospice Volunteers 45 Baribeau Drive Brunswick, Maine 04011 Jackie Ammons