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Barbara Anne Finlayson

Date of Death: July 10, 2024

Date of Birth: July 14, 1945

Biography:

Barbara Anne Finlayson, 78, of Bowdoin, died on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at the Hospice House in Auburn.

Born on July 14, 1945 in Bar Harbor, the daughter of Olga Elizabeth Finlayson, she grew up in Portsmouth, N.H. and graduated from Saint Thomas High School in Dover, N.H. in 1963.
 
A lifelong Catholic, she sensed a call from God at an early age to live the consecrated life and entered the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. She lived as a religious sister for 25 years, attending the Shepard-Gill School of Practical Nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital to become a Licensed Practical Nurse, graduating in June 1968.

Barbara subsequently decided to pursue a further call to live on her own, and moved to the Topsham, Maine, area, to participate in life of the Servants of the Cross ecumenical Christian community. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the University of Southern Maine in December 1991. Barbara worked as a social worker for Sweetser Adult Community Integration Service from 1992-2009, and also for Break of Day, generously serving clients all over Midcoast Maine until her retirement in 2020.

Barbara loved animals, especially her dogs Lillibet and Ralphie, as well as horses. Barbara was a committed disciple and friend of Jesus—sharing the Gospel to her last days in the hospital—and will be missed by many. May her memory be eternal!

She was predeceased by her mother in 1990, and several longtime friends, including Hartley LaDuke in 2014 and Johanna Cyr in 2021.

Several friends survive her, including her neighbors Jim Marconi and Jan Smith-Marconi of Triple J Farm; Rev. Jane Holmes of Rock Hill, S.C.; Cecile Pelletier of Auburn; Nina Kidwell of Indiana; and Rev. Richard Rice of Brunswick.

Her friends extend their profound gratitude in Barbara’s name to Dr. Patrick Butsch, M.D., and all the other wonderful medical and nursing staff of Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick and the Andwell Hospice House in Auburn for their generous care for Barbara in her final days.

Barbara’s Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, July 17, at Saint Mary’s Church (All Saints Parish), 146 Lincoln St., Bath. Barbara’s remains will be interred near those of her mother immediately following the Mass at Saint John the Baptist Cemetery on Pine Street in Brunswick.