Marilyn Fish Dunham

FREEPORT – Marilyn Fish Dunham, 89, passed away Sept. 3, 2023, at Horizons in Brunswick. She had battled dementia for many years. Her daughter, Margaret, was at her side and could not believe the peaceful transition.

Marilyn was born in Hartford, Conn., on June 11, 1934, to Helen and Stanwood Fish. An edict of the city required all employees to live within its borders and Marilyn grew up on Cumberland St., a hotbed of educators. Marilyn enjoyed eleven summers at her beloved Camp Winnemont on Lake Ossipee, N.H. Her joyous voice could be heard whether swimming, sailing or hiking round the lake. Graduating from Buckley High School in 1952, she went on to Middlebury College where she reveled in the skiing and outing clubs and acquired a bevy of friends for life.

After graduating from Middlebury in 1956, she went overseas with a summer foreign exchange program and extended her travels in Europe, hitchhiking with several other girls on $2/day, sailing home just in time for Thanksgiving.

Marilyn taught high school mathematics in the Berkshires, and in 1959 she enrolled in a summer program for teachers funded by the National Science Foundation at Wesleyan University. There she met Atwood Dunham. It’s amazing that a relationship developed because she loved to square dance; he didn’t. They were married on a record hot day, June 30, 1962, on Cumberland Street.

During thirty busy, but glorious, years in Wellesley raising Margaret and Jonathan, Marilyn juggled motherhood with serving on the School Committee and town government. The neighborhood’s dead-end street provided a haven for raising children as well as a safe place for many block-parties. In the mid-70s, Marilyn returned to teaching mathematics, finishing her career with a position at Lasell Junior College.

Retiring to Maine in June 1993, Marilyn was able to focus on her joys of gardening, sailing, and swimming. However, she soon couldn’t resist groups such as the women’s stock and book clubs which kept her busy until the ravages of dementia intervened. Her smile livened each day at Horizons where everybody from medical personnel, to receptionists, kitchen, maintenance and office staff returned her love with special care and concern.

Marilyn was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Stanwood C. Fish. She is survived by her husband, Atwood, her daughter Margaret (Gregory) Dempsey, her son Jonathan (Rebecca) Dunham, and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the South Freeport Congregational Church on Monday, October 16, at 12 p.m. A reception will follow at the church.

Arrangements are by Stetson’s Funeral Home, 12 Federal St., Brunswick, where condolences, memories and photos may be shared with the family at http://www.stetsonsfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust at http://www.btlt.org/memorial/ or Horizon’s Resident Activities Fund, 29 Maurice Dr,

Brunswick, ME 04011