Anne Rowe

GRAY – Beloved sister, wife, mother, and pillar of the Gray-New Gloucester community, Anne Rowe passed away after a short battle with cancer on the evening of May 3, 2023.

Anne was born at Redington Fairview Hospital on June 2, 1958, to Edward and Thelma Butler of Skowhegan.

Anne graduated from Skowhegan Area High School in 1976, Summa Cum Laude. She was a member of the math team and the yearbook staff, and she played saxophone in the school band. After high school, Anne enrolled at Thomas College in Waterville, where she met her future husband, Stephen.

Upon graduating from Thomas College in 1980, she began working for Ernst and Whinney, now Ernst and Young, public accountants, earning her Certified Public Accountant license while living in Hampden and Newburg.

Anne moved on to work as Controller for St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor and then as Controller for Eaton Peabody Attorneys, also in Bangor. In 1991, Anne and Stephen moved to Gray where she began work as Firm Administrator for Harriman Associates in Auburn and then as controller for SMRT Architects and Engineering in Portland.

In 2000, Anne retired from her professional career to devote time to raising her three sons and to volunteer in her local community.

Anne began volunteering her time in the Gray-New Gloucester school system, working in her sons’ classrooms. She served as a member of the GNG Athletic Boosters, taking great interest in football and youth sports. In 2002, Anne helped campaign and raise funds to establish football as a school sport. In 2004, she served as the secretary, and later the treasurer for the sport’s booster organization, The Patriot Grandstand Club. She served through 2023, every day since the Club’s inception.

In 2007, Anne began serving on the Gray Public Library Association’s Board of Trustees and later served as the association’s secretary and treasurer through 2023. She worked countless hours sorting and moving books to prepare for book sales. In 2013 and 2014, she served as a member of the Library Expansion Committee, a group awarded Committee of the Year by the Gray Town Council in 2014.

In 2008, Anne began her tenure with the MSAD 15 School Board. She served five three-year terms, chairing multiple committees and eventually serving as Vice Chairperson and Chairperson of the Board. She was honored by the Maine School Boards Association for her distinguished service in 2020.

Anne loved reading and completing the New York Times crossword puzzle. She had a passion for nature, spending countless hours in her many gardens, roses being her favorite. Visitors to her home could hardly believe such work was done by only one person. She also loved simply watching the birds and other wildlife from the window at her desk. No animal, be it one of her beloved cats or the neighborhood skunks, raccoons, and squirrels, ever went hungry.

Anne is survived by her sister, Jean Butler; her husband, Stephen; her sons William and his fiancée Tarrah, Nate and his partner Ashley, and Daniel.

A Memorial-Celebration of her life will be held at Spring Meadows on May 31, from 4 to 6 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Gray Public Library Association;

The Patriot

Grandstand Club;

the GNG Athletic Boosters; or donating your time to others as Anne did for

so many years.