Jean Symonds was a beloved longtime resident of Corea, Maine, known both for her notable community contributions and her unconventional professional life.
She was born on May 10, 1933, in Reading, Massachusetts, and was raised by her foster parents, Harry and Annie Johnson.
After graduating from Reading High School, she trained as a nurse, earning her RN diploma from Lawrence Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Medford, MA.
In 1957, she joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, where she trained special forces in medical procedures at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
While stationed in Texas, she met her lifelong partner, Dorothy “Dodie” Kemski.
After leaving the Army with the rank of captain, Jean pursued further education, receiving her master’s degree in science and nursing from Boston University in 1968 and later a doctoral degree from Vanderbilt University in 1990.
She was a nursing educator, teaching at Georgetown University early in her career.
Later at the University of Maine in Orono, she became a respected professor and mentor, helping many nurses earn their BSN and leading international student trips.
Jean and her longtime life partner and companion, Dodie, discovered Corea during a vacation and moved there permanently.
The two women restored an old fish house into a community grocery store that became a hub of village life.
In Corea, Dodie and Jean were known as a team. They restored an old fish house and turned it into a small grocery store that became an important gathering place for the village.
While Jean became well known for her work as a nurse educator and later as a lobsterman, Dodie played a key role in their shared ventures and community life.
Jean’s life was rich with interests beyond her career: she enjoyed travel, having visited nearly all U.S. states and Scotland, and spent winters on Jekyll Island, Georgia, after Dodie died in 2000.
She was an avid lover of animals, especially her golden retrievers, and remained a fixture in both the Corea and Jekyll Island communities.
Tragically, Jean Symonds died on August 25, 2025, at the age of 92 in Corea Harbor, Maine.
According to her obituary, the celebration of life for Jean Symonds was scheduled to be held on July 12, 2026, in Corea, Maine.
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