CAMDEN — Ann Burgess Ford Hopps of Camden, natural sailor, birder, kayaker, artist, lover of nature, died Oct. 25, 2015. Born Jan. 29, 1928, the daughter of Elsie (Foss) Burgess and William Starling Burgess, renowned yacht designer, she grew up in Rowayton, Conn., attended the Thomas School there and public schools.

Following the divorce of her parents when she was 3, she lived with her mother and sister, Diana, visiting her father during summers in Wiscasset, Washington, D.C., and Annapolis, Md.

A graduate of Norwalk (Conn.) High School, she attended Simmons College in Boston, Mass. In 1949 she married James Ford of Rowayton, Conn., and lived in Colorado Springs while her husband completed his degree at Colorado College.

With the enticement of a gift, a Bahamian cruising sloop from her husband's father, they returned to Rowayton where they lived for 19 years, parenting four sons. With family and friends, Ann cruised the waters from Long Island Sound to Penobscot Bay, and traveled to Greece, Portugal and Mexico.

Following her divorce in 1970, she traveled to the Seychelle Islands, Kenya, Indonesia and the Galapagos Islands. Disallowed to continue her membership in the local yacht club after her divorce, she was hired as a launch lady, a position she relished. In her 30s and 40s she engaged in psychological work influenced by C.G. Jung. Dedicated application to that study led her to "finding her soul" and those who knew her best believed she had.

During the eight years she was single, she developed a keen interest in birding the coastal shores and camping on Mt. Desert Island, and in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Her interest in birding lead her to creating bas-relief driftwood sculptures of the osprey, horned grebe, kingfisher, bufflehead and others, amounting to a collection of 30 pieces, rare birds, that have been exhibited at several locations in New England.

In 1978, she married Thomas Hopps, a native of Darien, Conn., then living in Norwalk, Conn., and Westminster West, Vt. After living briefly in Vermont, they moved to Mystic, Conn., where she pursued her interests in birding, nature and boating as a kayaker.

Wanting to connect more to the natural world, she and Tom moved in 1986 to Camden, where they nurtured themselves creating a home in an old apple orchard they called Meadowdown and gaining a community of friends.

She lived and enjoyed her good life, which included kayaking mostly the fresh water rivers, ponds and lakes of Knox County and beyond.

In later years, her love of nature writing, particularly the poetry of Mary Oliver, led her to gleaning compelling quotes from John Muir, Thoreau, Emerson, E.B White ("I'd rather be sad in Maine than happy anywhere else."), Wendell Berry and others, preparing them as 120 single laminated cards packaged as Rare Words.

Daily walks, most often on Beauchamp Point and passionate adherence to a diet of organic food carried her through osteoporosis, a broken hip, broken arm, spinal fracture and finally into Alzheimer's disease. She moved to The Courtyard at Quarry Hill in Camden in May of 2009.

Predeceased by her half-sister, illustrator Tasha Tudor; she is survived by her husband, Tom, of Camden; her sister, Diana Taylor of San Francisco, Calif.; four sons, Christopher Ford and his wife, Eve Royce, of Rowayton, Conn., Thomas Ford and his partner, Betty McBrien, of Camden, Peter Ford and his wife, Amanda, of Eagle/Vail, Colo.; Hobart Ford and his wife, Susan, of Weaverville, N.C.; her stepdaughter, Robin Hopps and her wife, Wendy Sue Harper, of Bristol, Vt.; three stepsons, Frederic Hopps and his wife, Jette, of Beverly, Mass., Johathan Hopps and his wife, Tory, of Cumberland, and Douglas Hopps of Cumberland; 12 grandchildren, Sarah Ford, Christopher Ford, Anne Ford, Kristin Selesnick, Melissa Brown, Steven Ford, Jessica Licata, Peter Ford, Meredith Carlton, Lauren Ford, Sallie Ford and Louisa Ford; six step-grandchildren, Inge Hopps, Kaja Hopps, Sara Hopps, Sawyer Hopps, Caroline Hopps and Burdena Hopps, seven great-grandchildren; and among her dearest friends, Becky Ford, Dee Webster, Ann O'Gara and Kay Katzenbach.

Eagle/Vail, CO; ;

A memorial service celebrating Ann's life will be held Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. at Union Hall in Rockport.

If desired, memorial gifts may be made to Merryspring Nature Center, P.O. Box 893, Camden, ME 04843.

Arrangements are with Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service.