ST. GEORGE — Lucille “Lucy” Elizabeth Goulet, 76, beloved partner of Paul Hannemann of Tenants Harbor, passed away peacefully on March 22, 2023, with Paul and her daughter, Io C. Cyrus, by her side.

Lucy had been diagnosed with a very rare, very aggressive cancer, which she fought valiantly to overcome. She handled her illness and treatments with immense grace, strength and courage. Lucy’s parents, who predeceased her, raised their three daughters in a home rich in culture, with play readings, music, singing, dancing (parents waltzing together) and a special appreciation for acting in live theater. At her very large middle school, Lucy won the role of Snow White.

After college, at the age of 21, Lucy married her high school sweetheart, Leander Cyrus, and they had a daughter, Io. After divorce, as a single mother of a toddler, Lucy worked her way through art school at the University of Iowa, raising Io with the help of friends and family. When Io turned four and Lucy earned her MFA, the pair made their way to Boston to visit Lucy’s sister Ginnie. Together with a collective of women committed to healing arts, Lucy and her sister co-founded a women’s massage therapy collective called Ananda in Harvard Square, Cambridge.

Lucy was very well-read, intellectual and committed to health and healing (emotional and physical). A pioneer and an early adopter of New Age and alternative practices that later became mainstream, in the 1970s she started a daily yoga practice, meditation, joined a cooperative living household in Newton, Massachusetts (Big Tray), Cambridge food co-ops, organic gardening, practicing eastern medicine and philosophies, Bach Flower and homeopathic remedies, macrobiotic cooking, holistic healing, eating vegetarian. After moving to Maine in 1977, she would purchase large buckets of tofu in Boston’s Chinatown for cooking at home and to supply the local natural foods market in Camden, Mainely Grain.

Lucy was a graceful woman of boundless courage, creativity, vision and grit. Around 1977, she moved to the woods of Hope, Maine as part of the Back to the Land movement, where she and her partner, with Io in tow, cleared forest for a large organic vegetable and herb garden, canned vegetables, split wood for woodstove heat, hauled five gallon buckets of water for cooking, bathing and drinking, built a sauna and studio for her work, and drove “to town,” Camden, to do laundry and buy supplies.

Also in rural Maine in the 1970s, Lucy established her healing massage therapy practice. Clients would drive hours to see her and be healed of serious traumas and injuries – from car accidents, ladder falls, and chronic or terminal illnesses. As part of a vibrant, progressive community, some neighbors would barter for her massage therapy services, trading massage for physician visits or plowing the garden with local Clydesdale horses. She became president of the Maine chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association and helped establish licensure requirements.

In 1983, Lucy bought a plot of land in Camden and worked with architect Jack Silverio to custom-design and then build a house, just in time for Io to start high school. She and Io helped the carpenters shingle using cedar shakes. This was one of Lucy’s proudest accomplishments – designing and building her own house. Three years ago, Lucy sold her home in Camden and moved to St. George, where she enjoyed living on the ocean with her companion, Paul Hannemann.

Lucy loved the mid-coast region, and persuaded many friends and family members to join her outdoors. She would practically run up Mt. Battie, Beech Hill or Cadillac Mountain, her grandchildren or friends striving to keep up with her. She also enjoyed running, kayaking, cross-country skiing and working out at the Y. Lucy’s sisters say she has been known since childhood to love a great wind and rain or snow storm – heading out in her galoshes and raincoat to stomp and celebrate the force and beauty of Mother Nature.

Lucy leaves many legacies. Her life’s work was as a massage therapy and Shiatsu teacher at the Downeast School of Massage. Lucy taught a weekly full day seminar focused on Shiatsu and Chinese Medicine at DSM for 25 years. Her colleagues, clients and former students remember Lucy with gratitude and appreciation for her wisdom and mentoring.

Lucy also leaves a legacy as an artist. Her landscape paintings of the coast of Maine are stunning and were shown in many galleries, purchased by fans of her art. At a time of international refugee crises, she also drew and painted very moving images of refugees making the treacherous boat crossing from Turkey to Greece, including heroic efforts of refugees to help one another in life-threatening journeys seeking safety.

Lucy adored and was so proud of her daughter, Io. She went to all of Io’s basketball games and raised her child to believe she could do anything, be anything she wanted to be. She taught Io to embrace the adventure of life, commit to community service and progressive causes, stop and smell the flowers, and live a healthy lifestyle.

Lucy brought a beautiful smile, friendly hello, keen listening ear and open hearted, sharing spirit wherever she went. Her treasured friends formed a Full Moon group, celebrated one another’s milestones and enjoyed shared laughs as well as deep discussions. People from decades-long friends, fellow hikers, to townspeople and Camden Y fitness buffs remember her blaze of blond hair, incredibly fit figure, stylish but sensible fashion, kindness, and reliable schedule of workouts, dance classes, book clubs, town, church or community meetings, errands and gardening.

As a grandmother, Lucy was the first to arrive to hold her grandchildren at birth and help with the babies at home. She appreciated each grandchild’s uniqueness and sensitive sides. She nurtured their love of Maine and the great outdoors including sailing lessons in Rockport, drove hours to Boston to cheer them on, and let them know how proud of them she was.

In addition to Paul, Io and many friends, Lucy is survived by her sisters, Ginnie Goulet Gavrin (Ira Gavrin) and Peggy Goulet, as well as her brother-in-law, Ira Gavrin; grandchildren, Ione “Nonie” Cyrus Giandomenico and Lorenzo Cyrus Giandomenico.

Born in Illinois on November 26, 1946, and raised in Evanston, Illinois, Lucy was the daughter of Laurence and Elizabeth Tibbles Goulet, who predeceased her. She graduated from Evanston Township High School (Illinois), MacMurray College (Illinois), and earned her Masters in Art (MA) and Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of Iowa.

Memorial Service: Saturday, June 17, at  11 a.m., at Union Hall, 24 Central Street, Rockport, Maine.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to:

Coastal Mountains Land Trust: https://www.coastalmountains.org/give-and-join/give/;

Merry Spring: https://www.merryspring.org/;

Maine Island Trails Association: https://mita.org/join-or-renew/.

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.longfuneralhomecamden.com. Arrangements are with the Long Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 9 Mountain Street, Camden.