Elementary school teacher  Mabel Desmond of Maine served four terms in her state’s House of Representatives. Photo credit: Bangor Daily News

Many exemplary educators have also served our country in political offices. One of these is Mabel Desmond, a teacher who served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives.

Mabel was born on January 30, 1929, in Lower Southampton, New Brunswick, Canada. After her high school graduation, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1964 from the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and her Master’s degree in Education in 1975 from the University of Maine at Orono. She then taught from 1949 to 1994 in public elementary schools in Bridgewayter, Presque Isle, Mapleton, and Ashland. In addition, from 1991 to 1994 she served as an adjunct professor at her university alma mater.

During her long and distinguished career, Mabel earned many honors. For example, in 2001, she received the State Leader in Education Award and Legislator of the Year Award. She also garnered the Alpha Psi State Achievement Award. In addition, she was  a member of the Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Chemical Abuse, and she served as the secretary and past president of the University of Maine-Presque isle Alumni Association. She was also a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International (DKG), an organization that promotes leadership opportunities and professional development for women educators.

Mabel’s entry into politics occurred when she was elected to the Maine House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket in 1994. She represented District 146 for four terms, until 2002. While in the legislature, the former teacher served on the committees for Education and Cultural Affairs. She was also appointed by Maine’s Governor John Baldacci to the Maine State Board of Education, where she served from 2007 to 2010, and she served as the Chair for the Maine Education Research Institute.

While working on the Education Committee, then Governor King’s Maine Learning Initiative (popularly known as the Laptop Project) was voted “Ought not to pass,” and it wouldn’t have passed, except for one lone dissenting vote cast by Mabel. Because of her vote, the initiative ultimately was adopted, and a laptop was made available to every seventh and eighth-grade student in the state of Maine so they could use it during their school years.

Sadly, Mabel passed away on March 2, 2023, in Mapleton, Maine. She was 94 years old.