Dr. Thelma "Kit" (Robertson) Juniewicz

Dr. Thelma “Kit” Juniewicz, 84 WESTBROOK – Kit Juniewicz passed away on May 5th, 2017 at her home in Westbrook. She was born Thelma Mae Robertson in Portland on September 17th, 1932 to Helen Noyes Robertson and Harold Robertson. She had two siblings, Faye Rekosik and Warren Robertson, who passed away in 2013. Kit grew up in Westbrook, and spent some of her most memorable childhood moments on her family’s farm in Pride’s Corner where she cultivated a lifelong love of animals, including horses and a pet pig named Tippy Toes. She graduated from Westbrook High School, class of 1951. She earned her R.N. diploma from Maine Medical Center School of Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Southern Maine, a master’s of arts in administrative supervision from the University of New Hampshire, and a doctorate in education from the University of Southern Maine. Kit had many careers and interests, about all of which she was passionate. She worked at Maine Medical Center as an operating room and neonatal nurse, she served as a nursery school teacher at Prides Corner Nursery School, and then as an elementary school teacher in multiple districts throughout southern Maine, and later as a school principal. After earning her doctorate in 1996 she became a college professor at the University of Southern Maine and at the University of New England, teaching many future educators, who inspired her as much as she inspired them. She was very active in the Northeastern University RE-SEED program which brought retired mathematicians and scientists to high school classrooms and in the Robotics Institute of Maine through Fairchild Semiconductor which helped provide robotics-related education at the secondary school level. She was a vibrant member of many social groups and organizations including the Rainbow Girls, Campfire Girls, 4-H, the Westbrook Women’s Club, and the Prides Corner Congregational Church where she loved singing in the choir and was a volunteer for the monthly bean suppers. She was also a lifelong Red Sox fan. She devoted much of her time to volunteer organizations and was passionate about bringing equality and opportunity to people across all socio-political spectrums. She volunteered at the Preble Street Resource Center, Hospice of Maine, and did international service work in Honduras, Russia, and Guatemala. She was a vocal and active supporter of the disadvantaged across the globe, advocating for women and children in particular through Women for Women International, Safe Passage, and other organizations. As wonderful and devoted as Kit was as a community member and career woman, she was even more enthusiastic about her role as a wife, mother, and grandmother. She met the love of her life, Alexander, while in high school and they were married in 1954. Al and Kit were both very active in the Westbrook community and supported each other’s separate ventures throughout their lives. They also maintained lifelong friendships with many friends from their high school days through the present, and were always making new friends to whom they were deeply devoted. Kit’s greatest pleasure and love may have been raising their two daughters, Cindy and Cheri. She always had time to offer words of advice and support and for adventures and fun with her girls. She later brought this same inspiration and devotion to her relationship with her two grandchildren, Sarah and John, to whom she was a playmate, a confidante, and an inspiration. She was excellent at making life more fun for all of her family members and friends, and especially loved spending time with them at the camp the family built on Little Sebago Lake, where she could be found canoeing, reading on the beach, exploring the woods, playing badminton or strumming the guitar by the campfire. She spread love and joy everywhere she went, and made everyone who visited feel like part of the family. Kit was always interested in learning about other cultures and places, and spent much of her free time traveling the globe. She brought her daughters and her two grandchildren with her on explorations of places as nearby as the forests of Southern Maine, and as distant as Hawaii, Europe, and Alaska. Occasionally Al was willing to leave his beloved Westbrook to join her as well; they ventured to Mexico and Japan and often boated around Casco Bay together. Kit is survived by her husband Alexander, daughter Cynthia Getchell and partner Tony Rioux, daughter Cheryl Juniewicz, granddaughter Sarah Getchell and husband Tim LaBua, grandson John Getchell, sister Faye Rekosik, sister-in-law Jean Robertson, and brother-in-law Arthur Juniewicz, as well as several nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank all Kit’s caregivers, particularly Rebecca Stocks, for their companionship, compassion and service. A memorial service will be held at Pride’s Corner Congregational Church on Pride Street in Westbrook at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 13th, followed by refreshments and a celebration of her life at The Portland Country Club in Falmouth from noon to 3 p.m. All are invited to both or either; as Kit would say, "the more the merrier". In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to either of Kit’s favorite charities: Women for Women International or Safe Passage. Online condolences can be expressed at blaisandhayfuneralhome.com

Dr. Thelma "Kit" (Robertson) Juniewicz

September 17, 1932 - May 5, 2017

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