PORTLAND — Melissa Jane Rector Bourque died Christmas Day, Dec. 24, 2014, at her home in Portland with her family after a long and courageous battle with Crohn's disease and colon cancer. She was 47.

Melissa was born in Boston on Halloween 1967, the daughter of Jane Christison Rector Coles and Frederick P. Rector. The family left its Needham, Mass., home in the fall of 1970 for a new life in Camden. Melissa was the youngest of four (11 years separated her from her youngest brother) — and the only girl — among the Rector children.

She lived a pleasant girlhood in Camden, participating in church, school and community activities. She enjoyed working at her brother's art gallery and, in the summer, loved nothing more than to sit and engage in her lifelong love of reading in a park that overlooked Camden Harbor. She attended Camden-Rockport schools until her junior year in high school, when she and her mother moved to Portland. Melissa graduated in 1986 from Deering High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society and participated in chorus and theater. She went on to the University of New Hampshire, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1990.

She then returned to Portland, where she took a job as an admissions representative of then-Westbrook College. While back in Portland, she met her future husband, Michael Bourque. Melissa moved to the Washington, D. C., area to pursue a graduate degree at Johns Hopkins University, but later moved on to a position as the education director for Junior Achievement of Central Maryland. She later transferred with Junior Achievement to the office in Portland, where she assumed a similar position.

In August of 1995, she married Michael and they began a nearly 20-year life together in Portland. In 1996, Melissa accepted to new job at the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, where she served as director of membership and helped the Chamber grow to a record number of members.

In 2000, she and Michael welcomed twins Kathryn Rose “Kate” and William Michael “Will” to their family. The family lived on Bedell Street in Portland's Deering neighborhood, moving to Noyes Street in 2005. When the twins started school at the Nathan Clifford Elementary School, Melissa began avocation as a school volunteer, immersing herself in the school's PTO, leading events and becoming chair within a few short years. She later served on the Building Committee for the Ocean Avenue School.

In 2003, after serving as a member of the Board of Junior Achievement of Southern Maine, she was asked by the chair to consider the opening as the organization's president, a challenge she accepted. She led the organization until 2010, helping thousands of Maine students gain exposure to basic economic principles in school. When she left Junior Achievement in 2010, the organization enjoyed a financial boost from winning beneficiary status from the Beach to Beacon road race.

She left JA to focus on her health, her family and on many volunteer efforts — almost all involving kids. When her own children moved on to middle school, she became a leading volunteer at King Middle School, leading the annual auction and earning recognition in 2014 from the Portland School Board as an outstanding volunteer. She also sang in the choir and volunteered at Trinity Episcopal Church, where her family attends.

She enjoyed — and excelled at — her role as mother to Kate and Will more than any in her life. She accompanied them to countless games, events and practices, but she reserved a part of her love and concern for their friends and classmates. She knew them all by name and would often express her concern for the less advantaged children here in Portland.

Melissa loved to sing, and in addition to her singing with the Trinity Church choir, she was a member of the Musica de Filia women's choir for several years. She loved a good margarita ("on the rocks, with salt."), spending time at the family's camp at Damariscotta Lake and many hours in the Rector family kitchen in Thomaston. She fondly remembered family vacations to Europe and Alaska, and her children's performances in The Wizard of Oz in the KMS production in 2014.

She is survived by her husband, Michael; and her children, Kathryn and William. She was predeceased by her mother, Jane Rector Coles, formerly of South Portland, with whom she had a long and special bond. She is also survived by her father, Fred Rector of Thomaston, whom she often called the most decent man on earth, and her stepmother, Marian Rector; and by her three brothers, Frederick “Rick” Rector and his wife, Karin, of Camden, Christopher Rector and his wife, Betsy, of Thomaston, and Timothy Rector and his wife, Mary, of Waterville.

Her family wishes to thank the countless friends who helped throughout her illness. They would also like to thank the many nurses and medical professionals, including the Cindys from Hospice of Southern Maine and nurses at New England Cancer Specialists and on the Gibson Pavilion at Maine Medical Center.

Family and friends are invited to a time of memorial visitation Tuesday, Dec. 30 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St. in Portland. A memorial service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church, 580 Forest Ave. in Portland on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 1 p.m. Interment will be in the spring at Evergreen Cemetery Portland.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution in her honor to: Trinity Episcopal Church, 580 Forest Ave., Portland, ME 04102 or King Middle School (Attn: The Melissa Bourque Fund) 92 Deering Ave., Portland, ME 04102 or another charity of your choosing.