Edith M McCormick

Edie was born in Andover, New Brunswick, Canada, on February 17, 1929, the first of two daughters of Claude H.J. Knapp, an English immigrant, and Alice Lane Knapp of Fort Fairfield in Aroostook County. When Claude died in 1938, Alice moved back to Maine with young Edith and Dorothy, eventually settling in the Portland area. After graduating from Gorham HS in 1947, Edie applied to be a lab tech at Maine General Hospital (today's MMC). On her way to the job interview, she lost her front teeth in a minor car accident, but that didn't stop her. She insisted on continuing to the hospital, where her pluck and resilience so impressed staff that they urged her to enroll in the nursing program instead. Edie did so, and spent her entire 50-year career as an RN at MMC, ultimately retiring as a respected endoscopy nurse.

In 1951 Edie married James T. McCormick, a Portland police officer and steel worker; together they raised three children at their home in North Deering, along with a succession of cats and dogs including their beloved Jack Russell Maggie.

In addition to nursing, Edie’s life was defined by volunteering. A fixture at Trinity Episcopal Church for more than 70 years, she served in a host of positions, from chair of the Outreach Committee to dispenser of mulled cider at the annual Christmas Fair. In 2009 she received the Ruth Barnard Award, Trinity’s highest honor, and in 2022 she sat down with retired newsman and fellow parishioner Bill Green for a segment of his YouTube series called (with a touch of humor) "Exciting Episcopalians."

Edie was also active in the larger community, volunteering with the PTA, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts during her parenting years, and later joining the boards of 75 State Street, Portland Area Habitat for Humanity and Project FEED, the food pantry she helped establish in 1975. To Edie, food was love. Over the decades she made and gifted tens of thousands of cookies, whoopie pies and other baked treats; in 2016 her legendary Danish Puff was featured in the food section of the Portland Press Herald.

But more than anything, Edie's passion was people. The very definition of "extrovert," she drew energy from personal relationships and social engagements—holiday shopping trips to Filene's in Boston with neighborhood moms, midsummer outings to Brunswick Music Theater with fellow nurses, wreath-making weekends at sister Dot's camp on Mattawamkeag Lake, monthly card games with the "widows and widowers" group, summer luncheons "uptacamp" on Sebago, and for the last year, visits with her great-granddaughter Leighton, who made sure Edie's 96th birthday party was her happiest ever.

Edie was predeceased by her husband (and right-hand man) Jim; her sister and brother-in-law Dot and Jim Emmertz; niece Kathy Emmertz Sweet; special in-laws June Beck and Pat Powell; and "country cousin" Laura Marston. She is survived by daughters Jan McCormick and her partner Don Peterson of Cape Elizabeth and Marge Davis and her husband Paul of Mount Juliet, Tenn.; son Jim McCormick and his wife Ann of Cape Elizabeth; granddaughter Allie Quirion and her husband Ben of Westbrook; great-granddaughter Leighton Quirion of Westbrook; and numerous nieces and nephews who enriched and blessed her life. Edie's family want to express their gratitude to all the people who brought joy and comfort to her long life, especially MMC-R2 nurses Justin, Jerrick, Kip and Maura, who showed her such kindness during her final days.

Visiting hours for Edie are Wednesday, March 12, from 4-7 p.m. at Jones, Rich and Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodfords St., Portland. Her funeral is at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 15, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 580 Forest Ave., Portland, with a reception immediately following in the fellowship hall. A private burial will be held later this spring.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Trinity's Outreach Committee, which supports not only the food pantry at Project FEED but Preble Street Resource Center, Laundry Love, St. Elizabeth's Jubilee Center and other vital programs serving Portland's homeless, refugee and immigrant communities.