Lorraine White Nickerson, 98, of Boothbay Harbor passed away on Aug. 17, 2020 at Portland Maine Medical Center.

Lorraine was a lifelong resident of Boothbay Harbor who was known by many as a pillar of the community and an advocate for the welfare of animals.

Lorraine was born in Topsham, Maine on March 26, 1922 to Grace M. Lowell White and David W. White Sr.

She attended Brunswick schools and graduated in 1939. She spent that summer after graduation on Southport Island with Dr. Philip and Neva Gregory. Dr. Philip Gregory was a dear friend of her grandmother, Irene White. She spent three years with the Gregory’s, taking care of the family while maintaining household responsibilities. She then went on to the Village Inn on Oak Street to help friends Charlie and Babbs Doherty. She worked there for three years until the inn closed. Lorraine also dabbled as a pastry chef at Fisherman’s Wharf until it burned in 1974. She designed handbags and was also a caretaker for numerous doctors and law officials in the Boothbay Harbor area. She was the first volunteer for the fire watch tower in Boothbay Harbor during the great fires in Acadia.

Lorraine soon met and married Miles Eugene Nickerson. They had a daughter Judith Ann Nickerson Fox who passed away in 2016.

Lorraine is survived by her granddaughter Sarah Fox Passage and husband George Warren Passage; granddog Maggie of Newaygo, Michigan, and her dear cat Boots.

Lorraine, at an early age, had a love of animals growing up on her father’s farm in Topsham. She started following the teachings of Albert Schweitzer and went to the University of Maine at the Brunswick campus. She received a degree in social psychology, which sparked and started her forever humanitarian efforts.

In 1954, Lorraine created the Boothbay Region Humane Society and held office of president for almost 50 years. Her servitude and love for animals began to grow as she was appointed by Governor John Reed as a State of Maine Humane Agent. At the same time, Lorraine had a career as a dispatcher for the Boothbay Harbor Police Dept./ Communications Dept. from which she retired from in 1996. However, Lorraine continued her work as a State Humane Agent for more than 40 years.

Lorraine was the “go to” person for all and every animal cruelty and neglect case throughout Maine, offering help and guidance, even though her jurisdiction was within Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Knox counties. Lorraine was the one you called anytime, day or night, to report an animal cruelty concern, an animal in distress or any animal situation for that matter. In 1986, the Lincoln County Animal Shelter was built and established. Lorraine worked tirelessly to get donations to help build the organization and promoted it as a place where “no animal would ever be turned away.”

She loved this animal shelter more than anything in the world and spent inexhaustible days and nights to bring it to its existence. She cooked Thanksgiving turkeys every year for the animals, hand wrote “thank you” letters every month to those who adopted and donated to the shelter, she fought for what was right for the shelter and its animals. If it wasn’t for Lorraine, there would be no animal shelter to care for those animals from the Midcoast region today.

Lorraine was gifted and put into conception the Comfort Creatures Thrift Shop which she volunteered and ran for over 20 years. In April 2007, Lorraine was honored by the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club and was nominated for the Lifetime Service Award. Lorraine will be forever known as the best friend an animal would ever have.

To celebrate Lorraine’s life, a gathering will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to: Sarah Passage, 45 Montgomery Road, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538. The family is working with the town of Boothbay Harbor to have a memorial created in her honor.

If you would also like to share your memories/condolences with Sarah and her family, they can be emailed to sarah.fox10@aol.com