Mary-'Vesta Marston-Scott

Dr. Mary-‘Vesta Marston-Scott, age 100, died peacefully at home in Orono, ME on July 16, 2024. She was predeceased by her husband, John Paul Scott, PhD, of Bowling Green, OH. 

 Mary-‘Vesta was the daughter of George Frank Marston of Jonesboro, ME and Mildred Babb Marston of Calais, ME. After her fourth year she and her mother made their home in Calais with her maternal grandparents Silas and Hanna Potter and her uncle Silas Jay Babb.

 In her early years Mary-‘Vesta played violin in many orchestral groups. She graduated from Calais Academy in 1941. She received a BA in Psychology from the University of Maine in Orono in 1946 where she was member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. 

 After graduation, Mary-‘Vesta worked at the Jackson Lab where she began her long career. Following the Bar Harbor Fire of 1947, she pursued her goal of becoming a nurse. 

In 1951, Mary-‘Vesta received her Master of Nursing degree from Yale University in New Haven, CT; in 1957, she received her Master of Public Health from Harvard University in Boston, MA. She later studied psychology at Boston University, where she earned a MA in psychology and received her PHD in 1968.

 Mary-‘Vesta had widespread experience in Public Health Nursing; she influenced nursing education and research on many fronts. 

 After graduating from Yale School of Nursing, she worked for Grace New Haven Community Hospital and later the New Haven Visiting Nurse Association. Also, she worked as a public health nurse for the Maine State Department of Health. After receiving her MPH she became a Reserve Corp Officer with the National Division of Nursing and spent 5 years in the U. S. Public Health Nursing Service, first on the Navaho Indian Reservation in Arizona and later as Nurse Consultant and Researcher in Washington, DC.

 Mary-‘Vesta taught at the Yale School of Nursing and was an Associate Professor of Public Health at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. Following this she became a tenured Professor at Boston University and one of the first directors of a Doctoral Program in Nursing in the United States. After leaving Boston University, she was an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago for several years before her retirement in 1994.

 Mary-‘Vesta was very active in professional associations such as the American Public Health Association, American Academy of Nursing, American Nurses Association, the National League for Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau at Case Western Reserve, and Psi Chi National Honor Society for Psychology; she frequently spoke at professional meetings and received several awards in recognition of her accomplishments. 

 Mary-‘Vesta was perhaps best known for a paper entitled “Compliance with Medical Advice; A Review of Literature,” which was identified as a citation classic in 1970; since that time her work has been cited by countless scholars from around the world. She has been identified as a most quoted Nurse Author in the U.S. and listed in the Who’s Who.

 A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. at the United Methodist Church on Essex St. in Bangor, ME on Friday, July 26, 2024. Following the memorial service, a graveside committal will be held 2 p.m. at Calais Cemetery, South St., Calais.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Babb-Marston-Scott Scholarship Fund c/o University of Maine Foundation, Two Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469. www.our.umaine.edu/Marston Arrangements by Mays Funeral Home, Calais.