After a long illness, Mary Rae (Thompson) D'Anieri, 86, of Scarborough finally rejoined her beloved husband John on April 1, 2023.

Born May 24, 1936 in Orono to Sherman Thompson and Mary (Morrison) Thompson, Rae was known by her middle name. The oldest of three girls, she lived in Orono and Winterport before moving to South Portland the summer before seventh grade. She began working at the A&P supermarket on Congress Street as soon as she was old enough and graduated from South Portland High in 1954.

Rae became the first in her family to attend college, at Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, Mass. She majored in Mathematics and was recruited by General Electric's Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory to join the ranks of "computers," the women who did the mathematical calculations relied on by the all-male engineers to build the nuclear Navy. Within a year she'd met one of those engineers, John D'Anieri, a Brooklyn-born Italian-American as voluble as she was gentle, who swept her off her feet by being "such a good dancer."

Rae and John raised five children together starting in 1960, living mostly in Schenectady, NY but also in Lynchburg, VA and Topsfield, MA. Rae was proud to be a housewife. She baked beans from scratch nearly every Saturday, apple pies that her kids and grandkids still try to match but can't, and mastered the Feast of the Seven Fishes of her very formidable Italian mother-in-law. She was as adept at sewing as she was at algorithms, but was not above iron-on repairs to the Sears Toughskins jeans that were the only choice her children had. Her hand-knit "Nana Sweaters," many completed while watching her beloved Yankees on TV, are legendary. Rae and John were a fierce bridge pairing in a group that played monthly for many years.

She was known for her stoic sense of humor; her patience with her opinionated husband and offspring; and for taking in members of her extended family, German exchange students, and her father when he was dying. Until her illness prevented it, she hosted Thanksgiving in Schenectady and later with son Peter in Wellesley, supervising the transfer of family favorites like monkey bread and sausage stuffing to future generations. For many years, Rae and John and Rae's sister Sandy rented cabins at Long Lake in Naples where family would gather for a week or two, and later Rae and John hosted two family reunions where their far-flung children and grandchildren could spend time together.

Her faith was key to her commitment to her family and community. She took her five kids in a station wagon to church and Sunday School almost every week for years, and later regularly attended daily Mass. She read avidly, from Dorothy Day to Graham Greene to Inspector Maigret.

After the nest emptied, she traveled with John, worked in a knitting store and stayed active in her local parish, where it was her job to count the collection money. Her lifelong wish had been to come back to Maine and live out her life by the ocean. John and Rae finally moved to South Portland in 2008, and then to Piper Shores in Scarborough in 2014. They played cards or cribbage and did the New York Times crossword together daily until John died in 2016; Rae also enjoyed daily phone calls and frequent visits with her sister Sandy.

Rae is survived by her sister, Sandra Drexler of South Portland; her children (and spouses) Rev. Margaret D'Anieri (Chet Bowling) of Wellington, OH; John D'Anieri (Malia Haddock) of Arrowsic, ME; Peter D'Anieri (Julie Koeninger) of Wellesley, MA; Paul D'Anieri (Laura) of Riverside, CA; and Philip D'Anieri (Alicia Farmer) of Ann Arbor, MI. She will be missed by her nieces, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In addition to John, she was predeceased by her sister Kathryn of Rochester, NY.

The family wishes to extend its gratitude to the staff and residents at Piper Shores who cared for and provided companionship to Rae in the years after John died.

Services will be held Wednesday, April 5, at 10:00 a.m., at St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, 350 US Route 1, Scarborough. Private burial will be at Riverside Cemetery, Orono.

Memorial donations may be made to the Piper Shores Employees Holiday Fund, 15 Piper Road, Scarborough, ME 04074 or Hospice of Southern Maine, 390 US Route 1, Scarborough, ME 04074.