ROCKLAND — Gloria Cown, 94, passed away at the Harbor Hill Center, in Belfast, on Friday, March 13, 2020.

Born July 16, 1925 in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Harvey and Victoria (Anderson) Erickson and was educated in local schools. Following her graduation from high school she attended Worcester City Hospital School of Nursing in the 1940s and became a registered nurse. Her career offered her an opportunity to work in all aspects of nursing in both Maine and Massachusetts.

In 1948 she married her childhood friend, Paul Bodurtha and together they had a child, Christine (Tina). They all moved to Maine in 1967 and built a home in Mount Vernon.

A few years later Gloria and Paul would divorce and she would go on to marry Julian Cown, a retired US Navy Captain from Georgia, in 1971.

Gloria and “the Captain,” would make their home in Mount Vernon, North Fort Meyers Florida, and later Topsham.

Towards the end of her life she lived at Bartlett Woods, in Rockland, and finally at Harbor Hill Center, in Belfast.

Her daughter recalls that her mother was an amazing, energetic woman. A working woman when many of her generation were not. Her daughter states that “she was a modern working woman” and “I think we had the first dishwasher on the planet,” also adding that “She was stronger than I am.”

Gloria loved to travel but was happy being a homebody as well. She loved to try new things and took up water skiing at 40 and snowmobiling in her 50s and 60s.

She will be remembered as a wonderful grandmother who was amazing to watch, had a good sense of humor and valued her friendships.

Her daughter also states that “developing Alzheimers in her 80s was so cruel.” “It has been a long wait and many will miss her.”

Predeceased by her ex-husband, Paul, and husband, Julian, she is survived by her daughter, Christine Morand and her husband Dennis of Camden; her granddaughter, Emily Weiss and her husband Eric of Warren; great granddaughters, Ruth and Penelope Weiss of Warren; her nieces Karen Erickson of Lovell and Donna Maskwa of Dover NH; and her nephew, David Erickson of Portland.

A private graveside service will be held at Sleep Hollow Cemetery, in Concord, Massachusetts, on a later date.

To share a condolence or memory with Gloria’s family, visit their Book of Memories at bchfh.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock St., Rockland.