AUBURN – Priscilla Ann (Davis) Hotte, 72, of Poland, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend, died peacefully on Aug. 27, after a heroic struggle with cancer.

The youngest of eight children of Agnes and Charles Davis, she was born March 6, 1935, and was raised in Wells, graduated from Wells High School in 1953, Simmons College with high honors in 1957, and George Washington University, where she earned an master’s in psychology and counseling in 1961.

In her professional career, she was a guidance counselor at Tripp Academy in Kittery, King Junior High School and Deering High School in Portland, director of Pupil Personnel Services at Telstar Regional High School in Bethel and guidance director at Oxford Hills High School before retiring in 2000. She helped hundreds of students obtain admission to colleges and universities, and she was a passionate advocate of low-income students and their families.

In 1958, ahe married her high school sweetheart, Richard Hotte. They settled in Poland, where she raised her family and lived her life. She was down-to-earth, a true friend, with a smile that could light up a room. She loved Thompson Lake – swimming in it, boating on it, gazing upon it while listening to the calls of the loons.

She fed the birds, gardened and prepared meals for family holidays. She was an avid reader, even reading by candlelight during an ice storm. She loved to cook with her children and grandchildren gathered round. Her six grandchildren gave her special joy. She loved playing games with them, talking with them, holding them, simply being in their presence.

She leaves her husband, Dick, of 49 years; her children, Melissa Baker of Saugus, Mass., Laurel Kelliher of Monkton, Vt., and Kirk Hotte of Paris, France; sons-in-law, Scott Baker and John Kelliher; daughter-in-law, Julie Hotte; her six adored grandchildren, Ryan, Sarah and Kimberly Baker, Liam and Owen Kelliher and Benjamin Hotte; her sisters, Dorothy Sherwood of Revere, Mass., and Jeanette Haggett of Wells; and her brothers, Charles Davis of San Diego, Calif., Bob Davis of Wolfeboro, N.H., and Ben Davis of Bolinas, Calif.

The family appreciates the care provided to Priscilla by the staff of the Central Maine Medical Center oncology unit and the Auburn Hospice House.