STUDIO CITY, Calif. — Constance Lee Gurney Godin passed away on Thursday, March 9, in Studio City, Calif. She had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and in failing health for many months.

Connie was born in Presque Isle on Jan. 24, 1933, the daughter of Alfred Benjamin Gurney and Esther Louise (Giberson) Gurney. She graduated from Edward Little High School in Auburn in 1951. A talented artist and devotée of fashion she attended the Traphagen School of Design in New York City and parlayed her talents into stints at various fashion houses and with Pauline Trigère in New York.

Her high school classmate, John Godin was in the First Army Honor Guard stationed at Governor’s Island in New York while Connie was studying in New York. There they renewed their friendship and were married a few years later. He passed away in 2005, two weeks shy of their 50th anniversary.

She worked as a fashion illustrator in Maine as a newlywed. The pair returned to New York in 1960 with their young daughter in tow. John began his lifelong career at IBM in Manhattan and Connie landed at McCann Erickson, the global ad agency in the REAL glory days of ‘Mad Men’.

Having been transferred by IBM, the family moved to Toronto in 1965. In Toronto, Connie retired from the glamorous world of advertising and became a stay-at-home mom. Bored and needing a challenge Connie learned to swim and became a lifeguard at her apartment complex! The Godins returned to New York in 1973 where Connie was active in the League of Women Voters and volunteered at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, near their Scarborough home.

IBM transferred John and Connie one last time in 1985, to Paris…where the pair lived for four years. Those years were a dream come true for Connie and John, who loved to travel, fine dining and great wine.

When the assignment ended, John retired from IBM and the two returned to New England, settling in Portsmouth, N.H. After the death of her beloved Johnny, Connie moved to California to live near her daughter and grandchildren.

In recent years, Connie was active in the Beverly Hills Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

She is survived by her daughter, Tawny Welch and her grandsons, J.J. Corsini (Elizabeth), Christian Corsini and Cole Welch; and by her sister, Carole Leary (John) of Yorba Linda, Calif.; and brother, Charles Gurney (Susan) of Isle la Motte, Vt.; and many nieces and nephews.

Her brother, Alfred Benjamin Gurney Jr. of Auburn, preceded her in death, as did her cherished son-in-law, Richard Jon Welch.

Connie’s daughter, Tawny was Miss America 1976 and a well-known anchorwoman and TV host in Los Angeles.