Blessed with the love of her friends and family and the overflowing kindnesses of the Kittery/Seacoast community, Marcia Abigail Ryder migrated from this world on April 1, 2008.

Though cancer overtook her health, the memory of her kind heart and her ever-willingness to teach and appreciate a gentle-vision for the world will long outlive whatever her illness has taken away.

Marcia Abigail was raised in Winchester, Massachusetts, and summered in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, and enjoyed many years exploring the Cape's beautiful beaches and freshwater ponds and local histories. Marcia Abigail's family lineage extended far into the people and places that inhabit the stories and recollections attributed to Cape Cod. She was proud to be a ninth generation Cape Codder.

On the Cape, Marcia Abigail excelled in sailing, artistic creativity and in close observation of the natural wonders of the Cape. Marcia Abigail also sailed competitively in the North American Lighting Class Nationals.

Marcia Abigail moved to Kittery, Maine, and taught art for the Kittery school system for 28 years. During her first years of teaching in Kittery, she did not have an art room and moved from class to class with her teaching supplies in a shopping cart.

While teaching at Traip Academy, Marcia Abigail was nominated for Maine's Teacher of the Year. Marcia Abigail's approach to art education was to develop "art citizens." It was her belief that every student had the capacity to appreciate art when provided an opportunity to understand the creative process.

Marcia Abigail often observed that the best teachers influencing her life were "her students." One former student recently wrote: "You taught so many of us to create beauty and in doing so created beauty in all of us." In the classroom, Marcia Abigail encouraged her students to observe the wonders of nature and appreciate natural beauty. At Traip, Marcia Abigail developed an Art-Ecology Curriculum that blended the science of the natural world with artistic creativity. To ensure that natural wonders are available for future generations, Marcia Abigail was a strong supporter of land conservation.

Marcia Abigail is survived by her husband, Roger P. Cole; her mother, Nancy Ryder of Orleans, Mass.; her brother, Robert Ryder; and sisters, Susan Hamar and Claire Ryder; along with many extraordinary cousins, nieces and nephews.

Donations in memory of Marcia Abigail may be made to the Kittery Art Association, P.O. Box 44, Kittery Point, ME 03905; and/or the Kittery Land Trust, P.O. Box 467, Kittery, ME 03904. Online condolences may be made at http://marciaabigailryder.blogspot.com. A memorial service is planned and will be announced.