Alice Martha Ehnstrom

On Friday, December 3, 2021, Alice Martha “Marti” Ehnstrom, 80, passed away peacefully after a brief illness surrounded by her family to rejoin the love of her life, Alf “Skip” Ehnstrom in heaven.

Marti was born December 29, 1940 to Everett and Gladys Turcotte in Medford, Massachusetts. She graduated from Hopkinton High School in 1959 and Nasson College in 1963 majoring in Psychology. After graduation, she met Skip in Poland Springs, Maine working for the Job Corps. They married October 26, 1968 and raised their three children on Crystal Lake in Gray, Maine.

Marti spent her career as a substitute teacher at Gray New Gloucester High School, coaching cheerleading and as a Fire & Rescue 911 Dispatcher and EMT for the Town of Gray. Marti and Skip were avid supporters of GNG athletics and sports. Together they attended as many sporting events as possible to encourage all kids to exercise, laugh and the value of sportsmanship. They welcomed the GNG community of kids to their home year round for swimming, waterskiing, water fights, fishing, kayaking, snowmobiling, hockey and ice fishing. Both Marti and Skip loved their lifelong Crystal Lake friends and neighbors. Together, they enjoyed many spaghetti dinners, lobster bakes and barbeques at the lake and of course, a yearly amazing July 4^th celebration.

Following Skip’s passing, Marti embraced being “Grammie” and led the family where she loved watching her grandchildren and their friends enjoy the lake in every season. She was always proud of their first fish they caught or the first waterski they dropped. She spent much of her time baking, sewing, ironing, studying recipes and was always on top of the latest technology. She mastered cooking an amazing seafood chowder for everyone. Marti was active on social media following all her grandkids and loved it. She especially enjoyed face-timing and texting all the kids. She took many trips to California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Her favorite trip was to England where she traveled throughout London and the southern countryside exploring castles, her heritage, meeting locals, food tasting and enjoying many laughs.

Marti loved the local lake wildlife, the families of chipmunks and squirrels who surrounded her home, even the few that snuck into the house unexpectedly. She loved watching the night animals on the Nest camera over coffee the following morning. While she had many bird feeders and loved spotting loons and eagles on the lake, she was never a fan of Canadian geese and would grab the air horn to spook them off the patio. She fell in love with Pepperidge Farm Strawberry Thumbprint cookies and would often send Sven, Nils and Kristin on weekly shopping hunts to buy them all out in Southern Maine and share them with her grandkids.

Marti was predeceased by her husband, Skip. She is survived by her son, Sven and wife Tracey Ehnstrom of New Gloucester, her son Nils and wife Betsy Ehnstrom of Scarborough and her daughter, Kristin and her husband Patrick of Wells all who she was forever proud of. Marti had six grandchildren that she thought the world of, Owen and Noah Ehnstrom of New Gloucester, Griffin and Erik Ehnstrom of Scarborough and Kerri and Jacob Davis of Wells. She was thrilled to welcome her first great-grandson, Rowen Ehnstrom on November, 12, 2020. She is survived by her brother, Everett Turcotte and his wife Margaret of Lacon, IL, many cousins and especially her beloved cousins she kept in regular contact with, Ellen Connor and Brenda Boleyn. Murphy, Dunkin’ and Sawyer will miss sitting endlessly by her side for “Grammie scratches” and dog treats.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Gray Fire & Rescue, 125 Shaker Road, Gray, ME 04039.  

At Marti’s request, a memorial service honoring her life will be held in the springtime at Crystal Lake.

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