Jacqueline Maher

Jacqueline Hamilton Maher, 87, of Whitefield, New Hampshire passed away on Monday, September 15th, 2025. Jackie was born to William & Anne (Carty) Hamilton on October 13th, 1937 in Port Gamble, Washington in a logging mill on an Indian Reservation. The doctor came by canoe to attend to the birth. Jackie grew up in Newport, RI and moved to Baltimore, MD as a young teenager. She attended Hamilton Elementary in Newport, RI and graduated in 1955 from Eastern High School in Baltimore, MD. Jackie enjoyed going to Gooseberry Beach in Newport as a child and loved sharing her favorite childhood memory of accompanying her grandfather who was the gardener at Belcourt Castle on Bellevue Avenue in Newport. After High School, Jackie went on to earn degrees from Baltimore Junior College, Massasiot Community College, and Bentley College. Additionally, she studied at John Hopkins University & Bridgewater State College. After a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease, Jackie passed peacefully, surrounded by her family. Jackie spent her final years living at The Summit. The Summit is a facility filled with loving, compassionate health care workers who are all masters of their craft: Helping those living with Alzheimer's live a full and happy life filled with activities, companionship, and love. Our family is forever indebted to everyone at The Summit as they are all truly in the right profession! Her children remember a dedicated and loving mother who encouraged reading, continuous learning, and independence. Jackie was a fiercely independent woman who knew how to stretch a dollar and passed on the finer points of home economics to her children. These qualities she showed by example-raising six children while working as a waitress and attending college to further her degree. Jackie loved to travel and has been all over the world as part of a dance troupe. She shared her love of travel with both her children and grandchildren. One memorable trip is when she took the Amtrak Sunset Limited across the country with her son Martin. Other memories include summer trips driving for hours from Brockton to Baltimore and Grand Manan Island in Canada in their 1969 Dodge Polara with vinyl seats and no air conditioning, going into downtown Boston via train to shop at Filene's Basement or to see Santa Claus at Jordan Marsh, deciding on a moment's notice to take her girls on an Amtrak train to New York City to shop, and flying to the British Isles with her granddaughter Bridgette to research her Irish and English roots. Prior to retiring, Jackie worked as Department Head of Information Systems at Brockton (MA) Hospital. During her time, she helped build the first Meditech electronic medical record system in the country. In years prior, she notably worked at Johns Hopkins University, Ballistic Analysis Laboratories Project THOR analyzing data from experiments at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Jackie had an esteemed career, and was one of only 10 professional women in the country who won a national contest through Clairol Loving Care, honoring women executives. Prize package included a monetary award, a 4-day all-expense paid trip to New York City, and conferences with nationally known women executives as key-note speakers. Jackie loved toe dancing, hiking, cross-country skiing, and dancing. She also enjoyed gardening & horticulture, where she won a blue ribbon in the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's Flower and Garden show which hosted thousands of entries. As an avid reader, Jackie read thousands of books over her lifetime. Jackie was passionate about sewing and passed these skills on to her daughter Kate who is a professional seamstress. Jackie had a deep passion for genealogy and dedicated many years to researching her family's heritage. Her commitment took her across the Atlantic to England where she explored archives and found that her great grandfather, Alexander James Hamilton, worked for Queen Victoria and her grandfather, James Alexander Hamilton, rose to the rank of Captain in the English Army while fighting against Napoleon. Jackie is preceded in passing by her husband of 41 years, the late Charles Maher. As a devoted mother, she leaves behind six children: Martin and his long-time partner Cedric of San Francisco, CA; Dennis and his wife Cindy of Upton, MA; Thomas of Lancaster, NH; Christine Gangi and her husband Charles of Somerville, MA; Kate Balch and her husband Randy of Gilman, VT; and Robert and his wife Katya of Somerville, MA. She was also a proud grandmother of 12, and is survived by: Christi, Matthew, Brian, Bridgette, Kaylin, Emily, Anastasia, Caroline, Max, Natasha, Peter, and Fiona. Jackie was an adoring great-grandmother of Evan and was patiently awaiting the birth of her second great-grandchild, Addy. She also leaves behind her loving sister Nancy, beloved brother William and his wife Jeannine as well as brother-in-law Edward Maher Jr and his wife Judy of Marblehead, OH and sister-in-law Donna Maher of Stratham, NH. Jackie is reunited in eternal peace with her parents Anne (Carty) Hamilton and William Charles Hamilton of Newport, Rhode Island; brothers Robert Hamilton of Port Gamble, WA, Steven Hamilton of Baltimore, MD, and Jimmy Hamilton of Baltimore, MD; and brother-in-law Roy of Baltimore, MD as well as brother-in-law Philip Maher of Stratham, NH and; mother-in-law Mary Maher of Stratham, NH. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, and countless friends. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in All Saints Church, 161 Main Street, Lancaster, NH, on Monday, September 22, at 11am. Relatives and friends are invited to share their memories and stories about Jackie on Sunday, September 21st from 3pm to 5pm at Bailey Funeral Home 210 Main Street, Lancaster, NH, 03584. Family and friends are welcome to a Celebration of Life which will be held on Sunday, September 28 from 11:30am -2:30pm at The Chateau Restaurant located at 1165 Park Street, Stoughton, MA 02072. Since Jackie was an enthusiastic horticulturalist, flowers are encouraged. Another option for remembrances may be made in Jackie's memory to the Alzheimer's Association or The Summit by Morrison, 56 Summit Drive, Whitefield, NH 03574