| Obituary from The Fortin Group Funeral Home |
New Gloucester, Maine
Mary Rose Philbrick, career nurse administrator at Central Maine Medical Center and a Professional Ski Instructor of America, passed away at the age of sixty-seven. After more than 18 months of struggle, Mary calmly acceded to metastatic breast cancer, surrounded by her daughters, siblings, and friends.
Born in Farmington, Maine on August 11, 1955, to Raymond Harris and Theresa (Turmenne) Philbrick. Mary, also known as “Mimi,” spent her childhood and school age years in Auburn and her summers on the shores of Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Oquossoc, Maine. Educated at the University of Maine and the University of Southern Maine, she completed her master’s degree in nursing education and over the years amassed a multitude of certifications in specialized patient care.
Mary inherited her athletic skills from both parents in water and snow skiing, becoming a superior athlete of the slopes with national ranking as a professional ski instructor. For more than 30 years she used her talent to teach others, supervising the ski program for women at Sunday River. Mary skied many of the majestic mountain challenges of the world, including Tuckerman’s Ravine with her brother Steve and Aiguille du Midi in the French Alps.
Her nursing career started in San Francisco, California, after which Mary spent more than 40 years at Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) in Lewiston, Maine caring for individuals in Emergency and Intensive Care settings; finishing her career as Clinical Quality Review Coordinator.
During her time at CMMC she led initiatives to improve the employment rights of nursing professionals and compensation for the same. Her efforts put her on the front page of the newspapers and at odds with her employer, but the strategy worked. Nurses began to receive a seat at the table and earn hourly wages commensurate with other hospitals in Maine and New England.
Mary was always proud of her involvement in the development of Air Med Sky Care which treated and transported emergency patients between hospitals, and from remote areas to trauma units by helicopter and plane. Air Med set a nationally recognized model for emergency care provided to trauma patients. Always a diehard Red Sox and Patriots fan, Mary was ever patient in explaining, to those who did not know, the mechanics of position and play in baseball and football and was an expert on the career stats of her favorite players. A lover of adventure, Mary crisscrossed the United States in her Volkswagen Vanagon and traveled outside of the country to the Mediterranean with her daughters Tera and Kristy. Adventures to Southern Europe and all the British Isles led her to more recent travels where she realized her life-long dream of hiking the Peruvian Inca Trail, to Machu Picchu, with her brother John.
Mary was never without her fly-fishing gear, truly a great passion in her life. Whether casting a line at a secret river location, or impromptu casting lessons on the dock at her brother Chris’s Cupsuptic House, Mary was always ready to catch the big one and throw it back.
A gifted artist and life-long photographer. Her work has been shown in gallery group shows and currently graces the walls of Central Maine Medical Center, with a series of nature images lining the walls of the ICU Unit. Much loved and will be greatly missed by her two extensive families at Sunday River and the Central Maine Medical Center.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents Raymond and Terry Turmenne Philbrick, and by her stepmother Margaret McIlvain Philbrick. Mary leaves behind her two daughters, Tera Ingraham of Bethel and Kristy Gustafson of New Gloucester, Maine. She is survived by brothers Stephen, Christopher, John, Daniel, and Michael Philbrick, two grandchildren: Lucas Gustafson and Aurora Jones, eight nieces and nephews, two great nephews and one great niece.
Visitation at Fortin Group / AUBURN will take place on Tuesday, December 13th from 5 – 8 PM, with words of remembrance at 6:30 PM. Donations can be made in her honor to the National Breast Cancer Foundation at: nationalbreastcancer.org
A service of the Fortin Group Funeral Home, 217 Turner Street Auburn, Maine 04210. (207) 783-8545.
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