Thursday, November 18, 2021 6:37 am

SOMERSWORTH - Faith Ford McLean, 75, of High Street died at The Webster at Rye on Sunday November 14, 2021.

Born August 11, 1946 in Boston to parents Richard Ford and Hope (Cullinan) Ford. She grew up in various parts of Boston because her father was the Medical Examiner for Suffolk County (Boston). She graduated from Girls Latin High School and went north to Bates College where she did much of her growing up into womanhood. She was active in the college Outing Club and graduated with a degree in Spanish Literature (which would serve her well later in life).

She returned to Boston/Cambridge where she worked at the MIT Sloan School of Management for Professor Dan Nyhart on projects such as a Ford Foundation Grant for Brazil. She followed Dan Nyhart when he became Dean for Student Affairs for MIT. These were tumultuous times during the Vietnam protests when her office was stormed. During this time, she went on a blind date with "a sailor returning from sea", LTJG Michael McLean, USNR; the brother of a coworker, Ephraim McLean, at the Sloan School. After the first date, Michael knew Faith was the one for him! After just a few dates, Michael proposed to Faith but he did not register her answer. A bit later, he asked her again and she said Yes! They were originally scheduled to be married in the month of January 1970; however the Navy got in the way and scheduled Michael's ship to be gone during that time. With five days notice, Faith and Michael were married with a new church, minister and reception.

After a honeymoon in the Bahamas, Michael's ship went to Naples. Italy. Faith followed and that began a lifetime of moving, courtesy of the US Navy. They began married life in Cambridge, MA, lived in Naples, Italy, Alexandria, VA (Washington DC), Newport, Rhode Island, Mililani Town, HI (Pearl Harbor), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Exchange with Canadian Navy), Mayport, FL, London England, Monterey, CA (Defense Language Institute studying Spanish),and Madrid, Spain (where Faith's college degree came in handy). After Michael retired as a Commander, they settled in Philadelphia, PA, where Michael's mother lived. After a couple of years they returned to New England and settled in Somersworth.

During all the moves, Faith was not able to pursue a traditional career because of the various countries' rules about foreign workers. As a result, Faith did a myriad of volunteer work. She worked with the deaf in Canada, creating jobs for the deaf community. She also volunteered at the Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children in Halifax. She was President of the Ombudsman Council in Pearl Harbor, responsible for 10,000 dependents at Pearl. Finally she volunteered at her sons' school in London, serving as the Librarian for the school (the school had never seen a volunteer before). All in all Faith had a very rewarding life.

She is survived by her loving husband of fifty-two years, Michael, and her two sons, Michael McLean, Jr., of Alexandria, VA, and Scott Ford McLean, of Elkridge, MD.