NONA PORTER

1931 - 2014

Porter, Nona Nona Phyllis (Hunter) Porter, 82, formerly of Brookline and Gloucester, died in Pasadena, CA, on March 5, 2014. Born in Boston on May 20, 1931, she was the daughter of the late Edith (Sofnas) and Joseph Hunter. She graduated from Brookline High in 1948 and Boston University in 1952. As an English teacher at Gloucester High School, she developed "partnership teaching," which became a successful model throughout the Commonwealth. During her years on Cape Ann, she worked for Action, Inc, and helped establish the Head Start and Home Start programs. She was a founding member of Cape Ann Concerned Citizens, an active member of the Gloucester Democratic City Committee, worked to bring the Cape Ann Transportation Authority (CATA) to the community, and helped in the inception of Help for Abused Women and their Children (HAWC), serving as interim executive director. She was a statewide organizer in the presidential campaigns of Senators Edward Muskie and George McGovern, Vice President Walter Mondale, and Governor Michael Dukakis, and served for two terms as State Representative Patricia Fiero's (D-Gloucester) administrative assistant. She helped to co-found the Gloucester Stage Company and was a director in various community productions. She was the executive director of the Boston Women's Educational and Industrial Union and also joined the Peace Corps, at the age of 50, where she was assigned to Fiji. She is survived by three children, Benjamin M. Porter and his wife Collette (Mosley); Amy J. Porter; and Moss T. Porter; two grandchildren, Abraham H. and Claudia J. Porter; and her former husband, Richard T. Porter. She was predeceased by her brother, Ronald Hunter. A memorial service will be held Sat. April 12, at the Harbor Room in East Gloucester, at 11 a.m. Contributions in her memory can be made to the charity of one's choice.