Teacher, activist, humanitarian. Vergn Hewes was all of these, and more. A science teacher and dean at the Wayneflete School in Portland for 54 years, she encouraged her students to enter the fields of chemistry, botany, medicine, and zoology, among others. "She taught her students to pursue their dreams but to remain thoughtful of others, to be competitive but grateful, and to work hard but not to forget to help others around them," her niece, Anne Hewes Foden, recalls. Ms. Hewes' encouragement was by way of example. A founder and director for more than 50 year at Camp Laughing Loon, she introduced succeeding generations of Maine youth to the study of nature and of conservation. One of the first registered women voters in Saco, Ms. Hewes worked actively for several service and civic organizations, including the York County YWCA Board, the York County Retired Teachers Association, the Women's Educational and Industrial Union and the Saco First Parish Congregational Church. Ms. Hewes died in 1992 at the age of 103.

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