Mina E. (Butler) Swanton, 87, of Casco, born in Boothbay Harbor, died February 5, 2014 surrounded by her family.

Her vibrant personality, infectious laughter, love of talking with friends and family, reading and studying, defined her life. Routine walking with her Lake Thompson friends, and attending Senior College (Southern Maine University, Portland) were her mainstays. She celebrated her 85th birthday with family in one of her favorite locations, Bermuda.

Following her 1944 graduation from Boothbay Harbor High School, she attended Bob Jones College, Tennessee, and then transferred to Portia Law School (now New England Law, Boston).

She began a career in social work after graduating from Portia Law School in 1948, working with juveniles in Boston. She met her future husband in Boston and tried to fix him up with her taller, dance and Jazz-loving friend, but he was smitten. She and Bart married May 30, 1953 at Ocean Point, Boothbay. Thus began a long, almost 52-year union. Following the death of their infant son, Walter, Mina co-founded the Bath-Brunswick Mental Health Association, providing counseling services to this Midcoast region. She continued her career as director of social services at Symmes Hospital in Arlington, Mass. Following Bart’s retirement and move to Casco, she worked at L.L. Bean.

Mina’s legacy and gift for community service included volunteering at Prebble Street Soup Kitchen, Camp Sunshine, and League of Women Voters among others.

She leaves her five children, Carrie Robinson (Joseph II) of Paris, Maine, Nancy Stobie (Jim) of Westford, Mass., Ruth of New Haven, Conn., Charles (Deborah Uotila) of Juneau, Alaska, and Carl B. III (Paula) of Otisfield; grandchildren, John Robinson, Merilee Grubb (Michael), Megan and Lindsey Stobie, Augustus and Owen Swanton, and Katherine Harding; great-grandchildren, Julianna and Joseph “Jack” Robinson, and John “Joey” Grubb; and nieces and nephews and other family and friends (Boothbay Harbor, Cambridge, Lexington and Casco).

She was predeceased by her husband (Carl B. “Bart” Jr.), her parents, Walter K. and Lottie Sidelinger Butler, two sisters, Beryl Torsen (Bill), and Gwen Brown (Carl), infant son, and dear grade school friend, Gertrude Tibbetts.

Visiting hours will be Saturday, May 3 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Stetson’s Funeral Home, 12 Federal St., Brunswick, where a funeral service will immediately follow at 10:30 a.m. Interment at Riverview Cemetery next to Bart and Walter following.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of Mina’s favorite charities: Prebble Street Soup Kitchen, Portland; Maine Senior College (OLLI) Southern Maine University at Portland; Camp Sunshine, Casco; Raymond Library (Biographies); Universalist Church, Norway; and Methodist Church, Boothbay Harbor.