CASCO — Mina E. (Butler) Swanton, 87, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, surrounded by her family.

She was born in Boothbay Harbor. Her vibrant personality, infectious laughter, love of talking with friends and family, reading and studying defined her life. Routine walking with her Thompson Lake friends, and attending Senior College (Southern Maine University, Portland) were her mainstays. She celebrated her 85th birthday with family in Bermuda.

Following her 1944 graduation from Boothbay Harbor High School, she attended Bob Jones College (Tenn.) and then transferred to Portia Law School (now New England Law, Boston). She began a career in social work after graduating from Portia Law School in 1948, working with juveniles in Boston.

She met Carl B. “Bart” Swanton in Boston and they married May 30, 1953, at Ocean Point. Thus began a long — almost 52-year — union.

Following the death of their infant son, Mina co-founded the Bath-Brunswick Mental Health Association providing counseling services to this Mid-Coast region. She continued her career as director of Social Services at Symmes Hospital, Arlington, Mass.

She leaves her five children; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; nieces, nephews; and other family and friends (Boothbay Harbor, Cambridge, Lexington, Casco). All she knew and loved will carry her enormous spirit forward.

Mina’s legacy and gift for community service included volunteering at Prebble Street Soup Kitchen, Camp Sunshine and League of Women Voters among others.

She was predeceased by her husband, Carl B. “Bart” Jr.; her parents, Walter K. and Lottie Sidelinger Butler; two sisters, Beryl Torsen and Gwen Brown; and infant son, Walter Lucian Swanton.

Services will be held on May 3, 2014, at Stetson’s Funeral Home, 12 Federal Street, Brunswick, with interment at Riverview Cemetery. For further information and to express memorial condolences, please visit www.stetsonsfuneralhome.com