Margaret Ann Creamer Hoxie
April 3, 1943 to January 7, 2025
CORNISH- Margaret “Maggie” Creamer Hoxie passed away peacefully at Bridgton Hospital after a brief illness on January 7, 2025, with her daughter Karen and dear friend Marcia holding her hands. Born in Damariscotta, Maine to Clarence and Lena Creamer, she grew up in Waldoboro and graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1961.
Originally planning to become a secretary, Maggie was convinced to go to college to become a teacher by her mother who was a teacher herself. That decision and influence led to a trajectory which impacted not only Maggie’s life, but also that of thousands of children during her prolific teaching career of almost fifty years. She was proud to have financed her own education by working as a waitress at Moody’s Diner throughout her high school years by, naturally, saving every cent she earned.
Maggie met her husband Bill during their freshman year at Gorham State Teacher’s College when assigned to the same table in the dining hall. She started her teaching career in Gorham, and when staying home with her daughters after she and Bill moved to Cornish in 1971 she started Mother Goose nursery school. She operated that very successful venture out of their house for four years.
Throughout her long career in the Sacopee Valley School District Maggie taught every grade between kindergarten and fourth grade full-time and served as a teaching principal for eleven years. She was first hired at the Little Red Schoolhouse, then taught most of her years at Cornish Elementary School and finished her career at Baldwin Elementary School. Every single night at the dinner table during her career she had stories to tell about her students, many of which she continued to recite through the years--including telling several of the more humorous one to the nurses who were caring for her during her hospitalization prior to her death.
Upon their retirement in 2000 Bill and Maggie increased their traveling and leisure activities and the time spent with their grandchildren. Almost immediately after retiring Maggie returned to teaching as a substitute teacher in the Sacopee Valley and then Bonny Eagle school districts because she had too much energy and too strong a love for teaching to not continue to do so. Bill often joked that during retirement his full-time job was to hold the door open for Maggie as she headed out to substitute teach each morning. Aside from her family, teaching was Maggie’s true love, and she dedicated every ounce of energy to being the best at it. Compassionate, detail-oriented, and strict but fair, she loved to be around her students and so many of them continued throughout her life to greet her with “Hi Mrs. Hoxie!” when they saw her in the community. She was organized to the highest degree both at home and at school and took pride in keeping a meticulous classroom, even involving her students at the end of each day in cleaning up around the room so that the janitors wouldn’t have much to do. God help any janitor, however, who made the mistake of washing Maggie’s chalk board and (in her opinion) messing it up by leaving any streaks because that disrupted her procedure of maintaining it herself using the special cleaning wipes and oil that kept it in pristine condition.
Independent, strong, stubborn, and always abuzz with energy and stories to tell, Maggie lived a full, long, and satisfying life. She never met a restaurant she didn’t like; she was passionate about voting and attending town meetings, and proudly served on the SAD 55 school board for the past twenty years. She was incredibly dedicated to her community and was known as a go-to source when something needed to be done or a volunteer was needed to help out. She taught substitute teacher training through Adult Ed and always made sure that she also attended the GED graduation ceremonies to let the graduates know how proud she was of them. Maggie could often be seen around the community at various volunteer activities including her favorite one, dedicating thousands of hours to Friends of Par Sem. She also volunteered at the Cornish Bargain Shop, church suppers, fairs, fundraisers and at any other activity that needed help and would give her the opportunity to visit with people. The most frequent response heard when people are told of Maggie’s death has been “but I just saw her!” because she hated sitting still and was most happy being out and about and socializing including the day of her hospitalization.
Maggie’s biggest source of happiness was her grandchildren. Babysitting any chance she could from day one as a grandmother Maggie held sleepovers, made special meals, sewed beautiful clothes, took them on shopping trips, gave hundreds of rides all over the place, and loved them fiercely. She never missed an activity in which her grandchildren were participating and was a frequent fixture in the bleachers at their sporting events all over Maine.
Maggie was predeceased by her parents, her mother- and father-in law Margaret J. and William E. Hoxie, her cherished husband and true soul mate Bill, and an infant daughter Ann. She is survived by her daughter Karen and husband John Morrissey, her daughter Kristin Dustin and husband Mike, and her five perfect grandchildren: Jenna Wing and husband Chris, Lianne Staples and husband Dana, Jack Morrissey, Roger Lanoie, and Kay Hussey and husband Andrew. She was also granted the gift of great-grandchildren Cole and Carter Hussey and her best little friends Caroline and Everly Staples who brought her immeasurable joy during the past few years. Her sister Shirley, brother Ken, sister-in-law Linda with partner Ben, and several nieces and nephews also survive her.
Maggie was especially close with her son-in-law John and her grandsons-in-law Dana and Chris; she could lean on them at any time and considered herself incredibly fortunate that her daughter and granddaughters chose such wonderful and generous husbands. Her granddaughters Jenna and Lianne and grandson Jack were not only the source of her greatest joy, but they also dropped anything at any time to help her out whenever needed. Our last holiday together was just a few weeks ago at Christmas and it was full of laughs, good food, and practical jokes and we will forever be thankful for that perfect day.
We have been truly overwhelmed and humbled by the number of people who have reached out with friendship and kindness during Maggie’s most recent illness, and this has only solidified our opinion that there is no other community like ours. We would like to thank the staff at Bridgton Hospital and Andwell Hospice for their treatment and compassion during Maggie’s last few days; Dr. Joseph deKay for his decades of devotion and patience; her orthopedic surgeon Dr. Joshua Vaughn (even though she never really followed his instructions), Dr. Leslie Bradford for providing healing and emotional support that was second to none during Maggie’s cancer treatment seven years ago, and to Sacopee Valley Health Center for more recent medical care.
To avoid the risk of unintentionally omitting anyone who was so kind, generous, helpful, and dedicated to Maggie during her lifetime we would instead like to thank this entire community and of all her friends who have reached out with concern and compassion while managing their own grief. It has been humbling and overwhelming to say the least. While it is impossible to individually express our appreciation to everyone who cared so deeply for her over the years as her friends, coworkers, students, and supporters--and because she would be heartbroken if we inadvertently left anyone out--we will trust that you know how she felt about you even if she wasn’t always the best at expressing those types of things.
Visiting hours will take place at Poitras, Neal & York Funeral Home, 71 Maple St., Cornish on Thursday, January 16th from 2:00 to 6:00 pm with a reception following from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at Sacopee Valley House of Pizza, Maggie’s favorite local hangout. Graveside service will be in Riverside Cemetery in Cornish on May 22, 2025 at 2:00 pm. Online condolence messages can be submitted at the funeral home website, www.mainefuneral.com
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the William and Margaret Hoxie Memorial Scholarship Fund, PO Box 12, Cornish Maine 04020 to benefit MSAD #55 students.