WALDOBORO – Alison Jourdet, longtime resident of Waldoboro, and Apalachicola, Fla., passed away peacefully at her South Waldoboro home on June 12, 2024.

Born in Baltimore, Md. to Donald D. King and Mary Anne Henderson King, Alison grew up there and in Palos Verdes, Calif., spending many summers at her grandparent’s farm on the Medomak River. Recently, after stewarding the family farm for nearly 30 years, she sold the 1830s captain’s home to the perfect neighbors. She retained the waterfront acreage, which will be held in conservancy, with no possible future development. She also retained a building lot on which she built her final home, finishing the project just this year.

Alison entered the U. of So. California as a freshman when she was just 15, and finished her B.A. at Sweet Briar College in Lynchburg, Va. She studied at the U. of Grenoble, France and at the Sorbonne in Paris. She earned her master’s degree at the U. of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y. and continued her graduate studies in French literature at the UofR and at NYU. She went on to work in the Office of the French Department Chair at the U. of Va. where she continued work on her PHD dissertation.

Alison left her pursuit of a career in academia in favor of opportunities in the business world. She worked in international legal research, founded the U.S. import subsidiary of the luxury French table linen manufacturer, Le Jacquard Français and developed the Prince Michel winery, museum and restaurant in Culpeper, Va.

In 1993 Alison elected to move to the saltwater farm in South Waldoboro that had been in her family for generations, where she cared for her mother over many years.

The final chapter of Alison’s career was as French teacher in the local Waldoboro High School, a job she always declared was the most challenging of her life. She was a beloved and highly respected teacher. During that time, Alison acquired with her sister her dream home in another coastal fishing village, Apalachicola, Fla. She retired in 2012 to focus on travel, fishing, wildlife, cooking and her beautiful gardens in Maine and Florida.

Alison is survived by her former husband and long time companion, Chip Jourdet; her sister, Scotty King; her nieces Eileen Lamb, Dinah King Carter and Jocelyn Lowery, and her nephew, Graham Warner. She leaves behind a legacy among students, teachers, friends and family of caring for, giving to and inspiring others, often at great personal expense. She will be loved and missed by a multitude of admirers.

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