Jacqueline (Jackie) Huntress (known by many as “Grammie”), 85, of Bridgton, died Monday, March 1, 2022, at Market Square Health Care in South Paris.

She was born in Bridgton on October 7, 1936, the daughter of John T. and Thelma A. (Paine) Briggs and attended Bridgton schools growing up. On June 10, 1961, she married Norman R. Huntress Sr., and they spent the next 50 years together before his death in 2011.

Jackie spent her entire life in the town where she was born. Jackie loved children, so it was not a surprise that she chose a career babysitting in her home. She provided many Bridgton families with daycare, in some cases babysitting multiple generations of children from the same family, in addition to babysitting her own grandchildren. Jackie insisted that she be called Grammie by all. Through the years, she became well known for walking from Lower Main Street to Highland Lake, pushing her stroller, with children holding onto the handles and each other as they trekked to the beach or out to eat. Many would comment on how she reminded them of a mother duck and her row of ducklings. Jackie had her “regular” picnic table at Highland Lake where she and her daughter, Paula, would meet other friends with the children they babysat. Surrounded by kids with towels spread across the grass, it looked like a preschool gathering. Jackie started her daycare adventures in the 1960s with the Mitchell family and ended in 2012, with her youngest grand-daughter, Kristen, and Jade and Tyler (whose mother, Amanda Graffam Smith, Jackie also babysat as a child).

Jackie also worked for several years at Nordgetown Laundromat located in the Bridgton Shopping Center, on lower Main Street, in addition to providing private laundering for Rocky Pratt for many years. As a result, she was frequently called upon to help with removing unwanted stains from her family’s and friends of her family’s clothing!

Jackie’s children remember their mother for her caring and kindness; she opened her home to many people to come for a warm place to sit or sleep, a home-cooked meal, and conversation. Her grandchildren enjoyed gathering there with their friends after school or on the weekends. The few years before she went to Market Square Nursing Home, she would host a daily “coffee group” of friends who were like family to her, along with her son, Mickey, Larry and Lola Shackley and brother-in-law Glen. She looked forward to her daily visits from Bowser next door and giving him treats.

Jackie enjoyed knitting; every year she would knit hats, mit- tens, and slippers for her family. One year, she knit each of her children, grandchildren, and the family dogs matching sweaters. Whenever there was a baby expected, she would make her special “rear-zippered baby sweater.”

Gram was an incredible cook, spending many hours stand- ing at her stove. She looked forward to preparing holiday meals for her family. She made fudge, needhams, and molasses cookies every Christmas. She made popcorn balls every Halloween and passed them out to her daycare families and friends. Thanksgiving meals consisted of turkey and ham, regular and cinnamon rolls, and pies that each family member favored (one year she made 15 pies)! The rest of the year, she would be called upon to make her amazing cheeseburgers and fried potato chips and was always ready to fry bacon. Each fall she would make crabapple jelly from the tree in her yard, and in the summer, she could be seen grinding tomatoes for her relish. Grammie gave love to many others with her cooking.

Grammie didn’t drive and didn’t leave the state of Maine of- ten, but she was able to travel with her husband, Norman, to visit her daughter, Paula, when her husband was stationed at Fort Belvoir. Every summer, Gram and Paula would take vacation and tent at Sebago Lake State Park with her daughter-in-law Judy, and her children Jake and Johanna. Later on, she would vacation for two weeks at “Camp” on Sebago Lake (thank you Kurt Christensen!) with her son Wheezer and his family. The entire Huntress family and many friends would gather there to enjoy the sunshine, water, good food, and great company.

We would like to thank Jackie’s friends and neighbors for their help with caring for her, which allowed her to remain at her home; Steve and Julie Mowatt, Wayne and Sue Rivet, Deb Staley Martin, Millie Howe, and Nancy Hewson.

We would like to thank Androscoggin Home Healthcare + Hospice for providing her with nursing and therapy at her home over the years and for providing hospice support at the end of her life.

Finally, we would like to thank Market Square Healthcare for being so kind and caring during her last few years of life. They would often tell us that they would ask Jackie if she was a “celebrity” because of all the cards, calls, and letters she received and they would tell us that she must be the “Matriarch of Bridgton.”

Jackie was predeceased by her husband, Norman Huntress Sr., and her daughter, Paula Smith.

Jackie is survived by her son, John W. Huntress and his wife Judy, their children Jacob and Johanna, and great-grandchildren Briggs and Kenny of Bridgton; son, Norman “Wheezer” Hunt- ress Jr. and his wife Carolyn, and their daughters Kasey, Kristen and Tiana of Harrison; son, Mickey Huntress and his wife Pam, and their daughter Hayley of Bridgton; daughter, Thelma Mitchell (Huntress) and her husband Dale, their daughters Mikkayla Kenney and Alexandrea Mitchell, and great-grandchildren Emmy, Isla, and Clayton of Gray.

Visiting hours will be held at the Masonic Hall on the Harrison Road, from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 18, 2022. Graveside services will be held in the spring. To share memories and condolences with the family, please go to www.chandlerfunerals.com. Arrangements are under the care of Chandler Funeral Home and Cremation ser- vice, 8 Elm Street, Bridgton.