Ana Dana

Ana Alva Dana, who moved through her beloved communities like a butterfly -- charming friends, family, strangers, flora and fauna – died August 5 in Hingham, Mass., surrounded by loved ones, succumbing to a surprise late-stage cancer.
Ana embodied countless roles and expressions of deep curiosity, creativity, and courage. She was an artist, advocate, organizer, singer, businesswoman, photographer, ecstatic dancer, film librarian, fairy godmother, life-long teacher and learner. She continually sought to grow through relationships, collaborations, diverse vocations, continuous study and mindfulness practices. Of her creativity, she would have described her daughters as her greatest work, grandmother as her most delightful stage, and her amazing friends, partners, and K9 companions as her most precious blessings.
Born Jan. 15, 1947 in Providence, R.I., to Anna Tityk and John Doda, Ana grew up in Central Falls, R.I. and attended the Rhode Island School of Design. At RISD, she met and married Joel Dana and started a family. Following further education and degrees in New York, Ana and Joel both accepted teaching positions in the Art Department of the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI). They moved their young family to Aroostook County (The County), Maine, joining a wave of pioneering young adults moving to northern Maine to homestead, create community and further their education in the arts and sciences. Among the many successful, enterprising ideas Ana helped to create there was a childcare cooperative called "TruckStop," where multiple families organized to create, program, and employ themselves as staff of this pre-school throughout the week, becoming the village to raise everyone's children.
Following Joel's death, Ana married her second life partner, Peter Parker, a County potato farmer and talented musician. Together, they made music and created one of northern Maine's first woman-owned snowplow and earth-moving businesses to earn state contracts. As global warming reduced the area's prolific snowfall, Ana earned her social worker license and with fellow social justice and mental health advocates Steve DeMaio and Margaret Rowland created an innovative job share as senior emergency services specialists at AMHC (Aroostook County Mental Health Center ) Skyhaven. Everywhere, she brought art and advocacy to enrich, encourage, and celebrate others in growth and self-determination.
She moved to the coast of Maine with her third life partner, Christopher Griffiths. Together, they retreated from the mainstream, living in a tiny oceanside cottage in Phippsburg. There she developed her most independent, flexible and comprehensive self-employment, providing "holistic multi-species life support and enrichment," meaning she cared for diverse people and their animals both as a vocation and avocation for the rest of their lives. After a time, she and Chris returned to civilization and the big city of Portland, where they lived and learned with their dearest family friend, Claudia Ritch-Smith. Ana became a film librarian for the Maine Medical Center for several years before "retiring". She was a mother of invention, devoting her creativity to her daughters' antique home Mayapple, helping to design and build the permaculture homestead known as Oak Forest Farm before moving completely to the Commonwealth to be full-time closer to her daughters and grandchildren.
In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she lived first in Cotuit, where she reconnected with long-time friend and ultimate long-distance life partner Scott Schmid. Grandchildren drew her to Cohasset, where she lived in #9 at 60 Elm Street for four active, creative, and incredibly fulfilling years before her sudden demise. Ana is survived by her three daughters: Jocelyn, Daniela, and Allison, son-in-law Gareth Thomas, grandchildren: Bodhi Joel and Gwendolyn Aurora Dana Thomas, extended-family members: Pricilla Gosselin, Catherine Kasek Plante, Pat Heggie Festino, Ian Schwaab, Lisa Chernin Goodman, and Josh Chernin, her dearest fairy godchildren: Deb Shinnlinger, ALL the Ritch-Smith kids, Honey Delano, Sebastian Andrew, Robin Gilman, Daniel Schwind, Stevie Gillis, and her soul-sisters & brothers: Celia and Andy Giles, Cliff & Judy Boudman, Carol Ayoob, Donna Taylor, Martha Grant, Rhonda Delano, Nancy Puleo, Jeff Gilman, Stephen Hatch, David Rickel and Jane Lavigne. Though she outlived three life partners (Joel Dana, Peter Parker and Christopher Griffith) her beloved and final partner Scott Schmid withstood her energy (and the odds) to survive her.
May we remember Ana for her generosity, artistry, playfulness, inclusivity, wholehearted participation, unforgettable outfits, love of the ocean, adventures of any type, deep spirituality, gratitude for all who touched her life, and her joyful enthusiasm for all things acorn-related. She understood soil as the foundation of life, and her final act was one of care for the earth, choosing a green burial practice over the toxicity of conventional practices or the carbon footprint of fire cremation.
Ana's family welcomes any images, music, or stories that you would care to share. Kindly email such remembrances to jocelyndana1@mac.com; if you are unable to share them in person. We will include all that we can at her upcoming Life Celebrations. Please join us where it is most convenient for you to break bread, crumble a cookie, raise a glass and celebrate her life:
Wednesday, August 27th from 2-4 p.m. at Cohasset Lightkeepers, 15 Lighthouse Lane, in Cohasset 02025
Saturday, September 20th from 4-7 p.m. at the Aroostook Room, Campus Center, University of Maine at Presque Isle 181 Main Street, Presque Isle 04769
Sunday, October 12th from 2-4 p.m. at the 9th annual New England Acorn Cooperative Festival, held at the at the Possibility Alliance/Little River Land Trust, 85 Edgecomb Road, Belfast, Maine 04915. Her story, choices and more information about green burial will be honored and tabled at the Festival; join us and plant one for the planet.
Finally, Ana loved flowers, and would have wanted you to stop and smell them, but in lieu of sending any, please support organizations that serve Ana's values of inclusivity and environmental social justice. Her favorites included:
Mainely Girls Checks made out and mailed to:
Mainely Girls
P.O. Box 1895
Presque Isle, ME 04769
Little River Land Trust
Land in Common / Little River Trust https://littleriver.ju.mp/
If you would like to support additional tree planting, kindly send letter of interest to:
Oaks in Honor of Ana Dana, New England Acorn Cooperative
Little River Land Trust
3 Adney Place,
Belfast Maine 04915