Title
Last Name	Canning
First Name	Mary
Middle Name	G
Maiden Name	Gerrish
Nick Name
Place of Birth	Milo, ME
Date of Birth	1931-06-12
Place of Death	Ripley, ME
Date of Death	2026-03-18
Publication	BDN 2026-03-21
Obituary	Ripley, Maine - Mary G. Canning, 94, died peacefully, husband at her side, at home March 18, 2026. She was born to Harold and Frances Gerrish, June 12, 1931, in Milo, Maine. She grew up in Augusta, attending Augusta schools and graduated from Cony High School, fifth out of a class of 180. An indication that she would be involved in a career in music started with her playing instruments in band and orchestra and also singing in the Glee Club. She also went to New England Music Camp and played in the American Legion Band in the summer. An indication of the active lifestyle she would be known for, was her participation in four high school sports; six clubs, groups, or societies; editing assistant for the yearbook; playing cello in the high school orchestra; and three years in the annual Cony "Chizzle Wizzle" show. She was a good water skier and a good snow skier, winning a Silver Medal Doral-Nastar Award for a downhill race at Squaw (now Moose) Mountain and once skiing the lower half of Tuckerman's Ravine on Mt. Washington. She learned to operate a motorboat in her teen years at summers at Sebec Lake. She and brother, Hap, would run the Pinafore (a converted lobster boat) around the lake to friend's camps, and also favorite spots like Canoodlin; Peaks-Kenny beach; Gibraltar; the beach with the trail to the "Ice Caves;" the "Castle;" and Buck's Cove. Mary attended the University of Maine at Orono for two years. She was a service rep for New England Telephone in Boston for a year. She attended the University of Maine in Farmington, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education in June 1954. She worked for Northeast Airlines in Portland during the summer following graduation, then started teaching 4th grade at Lincoln School in Augusta. She married Arthur Bourgoin in 1955, had daughters, Kathyrn and Patricia, and stopped teaching to spend the early years raising her daughters. In Febuary 1957, she and husband, Arthur, survived a deadly, fiery airplane crash of Northeast Flight 823 on Riker's Island in New York City. A book, "Tiger on a Leash" was written about it. In 1964 she started teaching again in Augusta public schools. In the summers of 1967-1970 she attended Northern Conservatory of Music in Bangor and was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in music education. In the following summers through 1976 she attended the University of Maine at Orono and was awarded a Master of Music in music education. In 1966 she taught elementary music and in 1971 became the chorus director at Cony High School and the vocal music supervisor for the Augusta Public School System. When the marriage with Arthur did not work out, she divorced him in 1975. She continued her work in Augusta, married Eric Love in 1975, and left Augusta in 1976 to join Eric in the Dexter area (living in Ripley) where he was employed. She started teaching 5th grade in Exeter in SAD 46 for five years. In 1981 she became the classroom music teacher for Dexter Elementary School and also the vocal music teacher at Dexter Middle School for grades 5-8. Following a tragic medical situation in which Eric lost most of his brain function and required nursing home care, Mary spent several years trying to salvage the marriage before making the difficult decision to divorce Eric in 1985. At that time she taught grades 3-6 classroom music and also became the chorus director for Dexter Regional High School. In the 1985/1986 school year she hosted an AFS student from Iceland. She retired in 1992, but continued as chorus director in a two/fifths time position. In 1994 she married Gordon Canning and continued to live in Ripley. In addition to the usual Christmas and spring concerts which involved all chorus members, Mary also gave selected students opportunities to participate in Show Choir (song and dance) performances, female Barbershop Quartets, ensemble Christmas performances for the Dexter Kiwanis Club, solo and ensemble competitions; Arcady performances, yearly district and All-State performances; and one All-Eastern performance in Pennsylvania. Outside of school Mary was involved with the Coller Chorale, the Shiretown Singers, the Dexter Community Chorus (as director also), teaching sailing summers for ChanceAlong Sailing in Belfast, American Association of University Women, Penobscot Sail & Power Squadron, the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church (as a choir member, and for a short time, director, and organist), and the Oratorio Society at the University of Maine at Orono. In June 2000 she retired a second time, but continued to accompany (on piano) the DRHS chorus and served several years as treasurer of the Music Boosters. She also taught private piano lessons (and some voice lessons) at home and had yearly recitals. Her two most outstanding students were Mary Ellms (in voice and piano) and Sarah Johnson (in piano and organ). Mary Ellms had a lead role (Maria) in West Side Story performed at Husson College in Bangor and was in the cast of Mary Poppins performed at the Grand Theater in Ellsworth. Sarah Johnson started piano lessons with Mary. Mary also introduced her to the organ at the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church. Recognizing that Sarah would probably go far with her talent, Mary entered her in piano competitions, introduced her to Ginger Hwalek to further her skills with the piano, and introduced her to Kevin Burch to further her skills with the organ. Sarah earned a doctorate in organ performance and is one of the concert organists in the summer concert series at St. John Catholic Church in Bangor. Mary's daughter, Patricia, started the Maine Women's Hall of Fame. When Patti died prematurely, Mary thought Patti should be recognized. She did the necessary paperwork and Patti was recognized (not as a Hall of Fame recipient), for her organizing work. Mary also noticed that Susan Collins was not recognized. Mary spent months collecting newspaper clippings, calling people, and putting together an impressive nomination effort to remedy that situation. Susan Collins is now in the Maine Women's Hall of Fame. Mary's daughter, Kathy, has worked on getting it moved to the University of Maine at Orono. Mary organized a program and taught early childhood music to preschoolers in Bangor for several years. She served for many years as the retired chair for the Maine Music Educators Association, and is probably remembered best for organizing the annual lobster feeds usually at various music educators' seaside homes. She enjoyed, and was very good at, playing bridge, especially with close friends, Sally Nuite, Georgia Prickitt, Priscilla Higgins, and Gertrude Wiley. Mary is survived by husband, Gordon; daughter, Kathy Bourgoin and husband, David LaBrecque, of Orono; granddaughters, Julianne and husband, Wynn Shatzer, of Somerville, MA, and Holly LaBrecque of West Hartford, CT; great-granddaughter, Ella Shatzer of Somerville, MA; stepson, Robert Canning and wife, Ruby, of Ripley; stepson, Donald Canning of Fairbanks, AK; and stepgrandson, Dexter Canning of Old Town. She was predeceased by daughter, Patricia Bourgoin of Gardiner. Visiting hours will be 6-8 p.m. Friday, March 27, at Crosby-Neal Funeral Home in Dexter. A church service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 28, at Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church. Burial will be private at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Augusta this summer. In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to the charity of your choice.