It is with sadness and gratitude that we said goodbye to Betty Ann Goulette. She passed peacefully in her sleep on Nov. 21, 2025. Betty, 91 years old, led a life of hard work, devotion to family, and using her boundless energy to help others. Betty Ann (Childs) Goulette, born in Southport on Oct. 20, 1934 to Edward Childs and Margaret (Foggin) Childs, spent her bountiful life enriching others.

The list of volunteer organizations and neighbors that she helped is long and varied. Local thrift shops, animal rescue shelters, the Gregory Wing at St. Andrews Village, Southport Island library and the United Methodist Women’s Group all were beneficiaries of her generosity and hard work. For five consecutive years, the community awarded Betty a Certificate of Outstanding Volunteerism. In 2005, Betty was honored with a Distinguished Citizen Award from Southport Island. Betty did none of it for accolades, she simply did the right thing for her neighbors, helping anyway that she could.

If you spent time on Southport Island (especially the Cosy Harbor side) from the 1940s through the 2020s, you most probably knew Betty Goulette. Besides being an active resident of the Southport community, she was its postmaster for 22 years. She was a substitute pie baker, helped to feed the kids at school and was often a waitress at Gus’s store. Although she enjoyed many things, by far Betty’s most enjoyable times were out boating, spending time with family!

Betty’s Southport and Boothbay Harbor roots run deeper than most. She remained a Southport Yacht Club member and a homeowner on Marr point until 2022. The family tree in the Hendrick’s Hill Museum shows where Betty descended from Mr. Jaruel Marr, the lighthouse keeper.

Her tender approach with children and pets helped them trust her. She usually had one or two cats – the last one being Prince George. Betty was by far the best crabmeat picker and seafood prep lady. Her baking was unmatched from biscuits, to any kind of pie…and even a gourmet cookie or two. Perhaps her love of music and dance was the talent that stood out the most. No dance party left her on the sidelines. She would catch the beat, tap her feet, and jump right in - anything from a waltz to a jitterbug.

Betty was predeceased by her parents, her sisters Dorothy Marr, Marjorie Collins, Eleanor (Frannie) Johnson, Jean Durfee, Caroline Damery, her brother Earl Whidden who was shot down over Italy while serving his country in WWII, her son Randy Dodge Danforth, her daughter Kathryn Terhune Barter (husband Allen-deceased), and grandson Kyle Joseph Goulette. She is survived by two sons, Rene Joseph Goulette (Mary), Anthony Scott Goulette (Debbie). In addition she has dozens of nieces and nephews, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held Monday, Dec. 8 at 1 p.m. at the Southport Town Hall, reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to The Southport Methodist Church or the Midcoast Humane Society.

Private burial will be conducted at a later time.

Care and funeral services are entrusted to Hall Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Boothbay.