May Ross Coffin

AUGUSTA – Coffin passed away peacefully on March 4, 2025.

She was born May Margaret White in Eagle Lake, to Edgar and Anita (Ouellette) White. She was educated in Eagle Lake schools, St. Charles convent in Rochester, N.H., and Farrington and Smith Schools in Augusta. May graduated from Cony High School in 1953. She then attended Gates Business College and began working in the law offices of Brown, Bourassa, and O’Connell in downtown Augusta.

She married Richard Ross in March of 1956. Together they raised five children and had the honor of being guardians for two nephews.

While raising children, May became an assistant Brownie leader and a Cub Scout den mother and was active in the PTA. She was very involved in church activities and served as a Bible school teacher at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. Later in life she returned to her Catholic roots and became a communicant of St. Mary Church in Augusta in the St. Michael Parish. May returned to work after her children became school aged, working in the Maine Senate as a Senate stenographer. After several years of various positions in the Senate office, she was elected as the Assistant Secretary of the Senate, and subsequently as the Secretary of the Senate, serving several terms in that role. Her children had to be careful in high school driving around with the highly recognizable red plates! May was the first woman in Maine to hold each of these positions and was highly respected on both sides of the aisle at the State House and throughout Maine as a knowledgeable Parliamentarian and a woman of integrity.

May also became active in the Business and Professional Women’s and the Zonta Clubs of Augusta, as well as the Jaycee Wives. She served as President of the local YMCA Board of Directors and was active in the State YMCA Board of Directors, serving as Secretary and Vice President. She was an advisor for Tri-Hi-Y, and she received the Maine State YMCA award for work with the Maine Youth in Government program. After working in the Senate for 32 years, May retired.

She was very active in MAR (the Maine Association of Retirees) and received their award for Volunteer of the Year. She was elected to serve on the Augusta Charter Commission and was appointed to the Community Development Advisory Committee. She was a member of the Calumet Club and a Life Family Member of the Kennebec Historical Society. She was active in playing Bridge at the Cohen Center and cherished her countless card-playing sessions with the “Cony girls”, which endured for decades.

May was a staunch supporter of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and attended hundreds of dance, sports, and music events. She was a lifelong diehard supporter of the Red Sox and the Patriots, and the Cony Rams – fight, fight, fight! She was a proud member of the Cony Alumni Association.

In 2005 she married Ed Coffin, who made her so very happy during their time together. She often said that the best years of her life were the 16 and half years she spent with Edward Coffin. An added bonus of her marriage was that she became family with her dear friend, Neno Dulac.

May was predeceased by her husband Ed; her parents; her son, Bradford Wayne Ross; her sisters Alice White, Helena Clark, and Pauline Noyes and her husband Albert; former husband, Richard Ross; brother-in-law, Wayne Ross and wife Betsy, sister-in-law, Marie Ross and husband Stan; grandson, Keven Priest; and great-granddaughter, Mallory Merrill.

She is survived by her children Julie O’Brien and husband Mark of Augusta, Rick Ross and wife Lauren of Waterville, Anita Hopkins and husband Mike of Augusta, and Heather Priest and husband Keith of Augusta, daughter-in-law Susan McCausland Ross of Waimanalo, Hawaii; and special nephews Joseph Cloutier of Augusta and Terrance Smith of San Francisco, Calif. She is also survived by her stepchildren, Kent Coffin of Rochester, N.H., Kane Coffin of Pittston, Kerry (Wanda) Coffin of Concord, N.H., Luanne Collins of Augusta, and Jim (Jennifer) Coffin of Farmingdale. Survivors also include grandchildren, Marc (Jenny) Merrill of Düsseldorf, Germany, Jonathan (Erin) Merrill of Buxton, Joshua Ross of Dixmont, Chad Ross of Hawaii Kai, Hawaii, Brittany (Joe) Lajoie of Sidney, Kristi Burns of Laie, Hawaii, Cameron (Brenna) O’Brien of Washington, D.C., Molly Hopkins of San Francisco, Calif., Parker (Jessyca) O’Brien of Augusta, Keith (Gloria) Priest of Winslow, Maggie Priest of Juneau, Alaska, and Sam Hopkins of Auburn. Additional survivors include several step-grandchildren; great-grandchildren; cousins, including special cousins Connie, Mark (Sandy), and Carol; nieces, nephews; and granddogs.

May’s thoughtfulness was evidenced in part by her generous commitment to charitable causes as well as by her extensive budget for greeting cards for all occasions, even as it became more and more difficult for her to write due to the degenerative disease of retinitis pigmentosa. She was enormously proud of each and every one of her clan and freely gave forgiveness more times than any of us deserved. Her family will forever hold cherished memories of sleepovers, nail polish on toothbrushes, holiday gatherings, peanut butter balls and beef chow yuk, school shopping excursions, lobster feeds, and no tricks, just a little treat.

Relatives and friends may visit on Monday, March 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. at Plummer Funeral Home, 16 Pleasant St., Augusta. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 11 at 12 p.m. at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Western Ave., Augusta. Burial will be at a later date.

Condolences, stories and photos may be shared at http://www.plummerfh.com.

Donations in May’s memory may be made

to either the

Augusta Food Bank

161 Mt. Vernon Ave.

Augusta, ME 04330

or to the

Capitol Area Recreation Association (CARA)

P.O. Box 5275

Augusta, ME 04332