WESTBROOK — Gertrude Mae Boullie Jordan (Trudy) died on Feb. 18, 2013, with her loving family at her side.

Trudy was born in Greenville on April 7, 1927, and raised in Houlton. She had three brothers and one sister. They were raised in a home with an outhouse, and her home was heated and they cooked solely by wood fire. She always said, “We never knew we were poor.” She picked potatoes every fall in order to make enough money to pay for her own shoes.

When Trudy was 16, a teenager, her family moved south to Portland, where she gained employment at “The American Can” (a food packaging plant). Shortly thereafter Americans were asked by the president to help with the war effort and Trudy answered that call by going to work at the Portland Shipyard. Trudy worked in the kitchen and helped to feed the men and women building the war ships. It was in the shipyard that Trudy would meet Henry Jordan (her future husband and love of her life). They married in 1948 and bought a home in Westbrook, where they raised three children. She lived in this home over 50 years. Henry passed in 1978.

Trudy was still very young and began the next chapter of her life. Trudy was a nanny for many years to several families and helped raise “her other children” who lovingly referred to her as “Grammy Jordan” or simply “Grammie J.”

For over 20 years, Grammie J. volunteered at Prides Corner Church with Meals on Wheels, the church fairs, and worked bean suppers. Grammie J. loved her flower and vegetable gardens. She enjoyed the simple life, enjoyed Irish music and being with her family. Trudy never learned to drive but that never stopped her.

In May 2001, Grammie Jordan took on the Westbrook postal service, and as such her story made the front page of the Portland Press Herald. Grammie J. was ultimately successful in getting the post office to relocate resident mailboxes to the same side of the road as the residence in turn improving safety for not only herself, but also for other elderly residents who had to cross Route 302 every day just to retrieve their mail. Trudy never told her children what she had done and they instead found out when they saw her and read the story on the front page of the paper!

Gertrude Jordan leaves behind her three children, Darrell Jordan of Windham, James Jordan of Casco and Della Jordan of Windham; two stepsons, Edward Jordan and Robert Jordan, both of Florida; five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Visiting hours will be on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Dolby and Dorr Funeral Chapel, 76 State Street, Gorham. A celebration of her life will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, at her beloved Prides Corner Church, 235 Pride Street, Westbrook. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Portland. For online condolences, please visit www.dolbyfuneralchapels.com

The family asks that donations are made in her honor to breast cancer and Trudy asked that instead of black, wear pink for her.