Charlotte Gillies Madeira, our hero, our leader, our inspiration, our rock of Gibraltar, our mother, our friend, died at sunrise, November 18th, 2013, surrounded by faith and love, on Mount Desert Island, ME. Charlotte was born October 2nd, 1925 in Chestnut Hill, PA. She attended Chestnut Hill College of Nursing and was a Registered Nurse at Chestnut Hill Hospital. She married John Welsh Madeira, also of Chestnut Hill, in 1950 and the couple spent their honeymoon on Mount Desert Island, ME, and every summer thereafter. They eventually retired to both Ft. Lauderdale, FL and Mount Desert. Charlotte was the matriarch of a large family that includes her late husband, Johnnie, seven children; Rebecca (Grant) Madeira-Castle of Wilton, CT, John, Jr. (Ruth) Madeira of Southwest Harbor, ME, Alan Madeira of Southwest Harbor, ME, Anita Madeira of New York City, Nancy (Paul) Matlack of Villanova, PA, Janet Madeira of Ellsworth, ME and Paul (Ellen Dux) Madeira of Venice, CA, and nine grandchildren; James Castle, Maris, Sarah (Madeira-Day) and Lily Madeira, Nell Blagg, Charlotte, Anna and Nicholas Matlack, and Margot Madeira; and brother-in-law, Paul McCloskey of Chevy Chase, MD and sister-in-law, Helen Tyson Madeira of Gladwyne, PA. A private memorial is planned this summer on Mount Desert Island for both Charlotte and John (who died one year earlier, November 15th, 2012, in Maine). A lover of life and wild flowers, in all their infinite variety, she found beauty in simplicity and called it as she saw it. Her independence, her defiance, her common sense, remarkable strength, valiant spirit, endless sense of fun and her selfless and positive nature are her legacy. She will keep our compass true. And as she’d always say, “Amen, the end.”
