Constance Reed “Connie” Wright, 99, died peacefully Aug. 7, 2019 at Hospice House in Auburn.

Connie was born Oct. 10, 1919 to H. Chandler Reed and Lulu Foster Reed in West Boothbay Harbor. She had a heart attack at age 16 and missed a year of school. She attended Lewiston High School for a year on account of their short school day, which was less taxing to her health. Connie then graduated from Boothbay Harbor High School, Class of 1938.

Connie went to Mount Holyoke College for a year, then transferred to Cornell University, where she majored in hotel management. Her family owned and operated the Oake Grove Hotel in West Boothbay Harbor for many years.

At Cornell, she met J. Richard “Dick” Wright and they were married in July 1943. Their education was interrupted by the war. Dick was a geologist and was involved with oil exploration as part of the war effort, before going into the infantry in 1944.

Connie and Dick returned to Cornell after the war, graduating in 1948. Connie belonged to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority at Cornell.

They built and ran Seawinds coffee shop in West Boothbay Harbor before moving to Connecticut in 1956. Connie lived in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas as Dick changed jobs or was transferred over the years until moving to Carlisle, Massachusetts in 1966. She live in Carlisle for 46 years and had many wonderful friends there.

Connie was also an artist, commencing to paint and do pastels in 1965. She derived tremendous pleasure from painting and made many friends through art. She had a show at the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library in 2012. Connie was a longtime member of the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society.

Connie was also an avid horseback rider and owned horses for more than 30 years. She took her last ride at the age of 95! She had many friends from that activity, too.

Connie made lifelong friends wherever she was — from Lewiston to Mount Holyoke to Cornell to Connecticut and Texas, as well as her old friends from Boothbay Harbor. She cherished her friendships and was not happy that she no longer had the energy for correspondence in her extreme old age. Aside from that, she enjoyed life right to the end.

Connie is survived by sons Kenneth of Gilsum, New Hampshire and Chandler of Boothbay Harbor and Hanover, Maine, as well as seven grandsons and one granddaughter.

She was predeceased by her husband of 58 years, Dick Wright, sons David T. Wright and Stephen W. Wright, and granddaughter Lee Wright.

There will be a memorial service next June. Details will be announced at that time.