Rona Mary Metcalf, a resident of Southport since 1979, died of natural causes on Oct. 4 at her home, surrounded by her children. She was 85.

Born in Winchester, Massachusetts to Wilfred Roberts and Mary Wolejko, Rona attended local schools there, before attending Westbrook Junior College in Maine. In 1947 she married Rowe B. Metcalf Jr., who died in 2012 in Boothbay Harbor.

She and her husband traveled extensively while raising three children, and she developed an extraordinary passion and talent for cooking, based on the cuisines of the many countries she visited.

Before coming to Southport, Rona and her husband lived for a time in Jamaica, Vermont. There, she served on the Jamaica School Board.

While living in Southport, she gave generously to both local and national charities and nonprofits, and in recent years she was active with local bridge groups.

Rona is survived by her three children: Peter Metcalf of Topsham; Timothy Metcalf and his wife, Celia Wilson Metcalf of Cumberland Foreside, and Nicola Metcalf and her husband, Tom Warnick, and granddaughter, Fiona Louise Warnick, all of Sunderland, Massachusetts.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter.