Gloria N. Tewhey

BROOKLINE, Mass. — Gloria Nolin Tewhey, 73, of Gorham, passed away Sept. 29 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Brookline, Mass. She died from complications associated with her 16-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia.

She was born July 2, 1944, in Lewiston, the daughter of Henry and Carmel Dumont Nolin. After graduating from Westbrook College in Portland in 1964 she was the medical secretary of Dr. Milan Chapin of Auburn for two years. In June 1965, she married her high school sweetheart, John Tewhey.

Gloria and John lived in South Carolina, Wyoming, New Jersey, Maine, Florida, and Rhode Island while John was in the U.S. Air Force and attending graduate school. During that time, they brought three daughters into the world, Kathryn, Meridith and Allison.

After completion of graduate school in 1974, the family moved to Livermore, Calif., where John was employed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Gloria concentrated on family, was an active community volunteer and enjoyed tennis and gardening. They moved to Gorham in 1981 due to their strong desire to raise their young family in Maine. When their youngest daughter reached middle school, Gloria worked at Loring, Short and Harmon at the Maine Mall from 1982 to 1986. Later, Gloria was the office manager and accountant for their environmental consulting business, Tewhey Associates, from 1987 until they both retired in 2014.

In Maine, she enjoyed stained-glass artistry, gardening, community volunteering and keeping up with her daughters’ and grandchildren’s activities.

In the late 1980s, Gloria became involved in the Gorham Women’s Club and the Maine Federation of Women’s Clubs. She was president of the Maine Federation in 1992-1994. Her service project involved the support and growth of the Maine Youth Leadership (MYL) annual conferences in which a sophomore with leadership potential from every Maine high school gathers for a four-day leadership and social awareness conference at the University of Southern Maine (USM) in Gorham. Since 1994, Gloria has been a principal fundraiser for the annual MYL conferences.

Gloria was a loving and lovable person who adored her family.

She is survived by her husband, John; her daughters, Kathryn Tewhey of Porter, Meridith Palmer and her husband, Michael of Sudbury, Mass. and Allison Garrity and her husband, Andrew of Framingham, Mass. Her precious grandchildren are Nicholas Vacchiano of Portland, Julia Vacchiano of Philadelphia, Pa., Emily, Clara and Lyla Palmer and Aidan and James Garrity. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews for whom she cared very much.

She was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Cyril Nolin. She had great fondness for her Nolin and Dumont aunts, uncles and cousins.

The family greatly appreciates her caring and talented medical team at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Maine Medical Center. They cared for her with great skill and compassion during her 16-month illness.