Scarborough, ME- Marie (O'Donahoe) Kirn, 88, died on April 11, 2023, she had lived with
Dementia for some months. Marie moved in the fall of 2016 from the Upper Valley of Vermont
and New Hampshire to Piper Shores, a continuing Care Retirement Community in Scarborough.
Born in New York City in 1935, Marie first moved to Vermont in 1965 and worked with Weston
Priority and the VT. Dept. of Education. After over twenty years with hospice in Southern NH, she
and her husband, Art, were among the founding members in 1997 of Cobb Hill Cohousing in
Hartland. After Art's death in 2005, Marie continued her active life with Cobb Hill and was a
founder of Aging in Hartland, the support service for elders in town.
Marie earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in American Literature at Brown University. Her early career
steps included Assoc. Dean of Students at Rhode Island School of Design and educational
consultant to the War on Poverty in D.C. She was co-author and trainer with Art Kirn of Life
Work Planning, published by McGraw-Hill in 1976.
Work with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in 1975 initiated Marie's interest in hospice. She was a founder
in 1979 of Monadnock Hospice in Peterborough, NH, and of the NH Hospice Organization, and
worked with hospice and palliative care in the Upper Valley from 1994 until her retirement in 2003.
She played a role in the establishment of the Palliative Medicine Service at DHMC and served
on its Advisory Council.
Marie led ILEAD courses called, Living With Our Mortality, and was a founder of Aging in
Hartland. She served on Hartland's Planning Commission, the Opera North board, HIRS and
CCC advisory groups.
Marie has two children, Josh of Concord, NH, and Sarah of Portland, ME, and two granddaughters,
Bailey and Avery. There will be a celebration of her life at a later date.
She requests that donations in her memory be sent to: Aging in Hartland
P.O. Box 349
Hartland, VT 05048
Interment will be at the Cedar Brook Burial Ground in Limington
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service, Buxton, www.mainefuneral.com