BRUNSWICK — Marilyn A. Gordon, 78, of 14 Center St., died peacefully at home with her family and friends present on the evening of Sept. 2.

Born Dec. 3, 1931, in Lisbon Falls, she was the daughter of August G. and Agnes M. Dehetre Baumann. After her father passed away shortly after her birth, her mother married Joseph J. Baumann, who she considered her father. She was educated in Lisbon schools and graduated from the University of Maine. She married William R. Gordon on Aug. 4, 1951, in Lisbon Falls.

She taught elementary school in rural schools throughout the State of Maine in the towns of Levant, Hampden, and West Paris. She began her career in education by teaching grades five through eight in a two-room school house in West Levant. Marilyn taught second grade during the last 20 years of her school career at the Woolwich Central School. After retiring from teaching, she went to work for L.L. Bean in 1993 and retired from there in 2008.

She was an avid reader and lifelong learner. She realized part of this passion in co-owning a bookshop with her late husband, William. Her other major passion was in refining traditional Maine recipes. Marilyn was renowned among family and friends for her abilities in creating “mass quantities” of fine down-home cooking.

She is survived by a son, Dr. William R. Gordon, Jr., and his wife, Heather M. Gordon, of Wakefield, R.I.; a daughter, Martha A. Gordon of Brunswick; and three grandchildren, Bronwyn L. Gordon Quinlan and her husband, Mark G. Quinlan, of North Providence, R.I., Ian W. Gordon of Wakefield, R.I., and Meredith A. Gordon of Brunswick. She is also survived by a sister, Lorraine R. Sherwood, of Brunswick, and brother, Joseph E. Baumann, of Glen Gardner, N.J.; and several nieces and nephews.

She is predeceased by her husband, William R. Gordon, who died March 16, 1993; three sisters, Frances H. Turner of Lisbon, Gladys H. Desjardins and Elizabeth A. Pope, both of Brunswick. She is also predeceased by her brother, Leon J. Baumann, of Lisbon Falls.