Natalie B. Ackroyd, 85, of Ocean Point Road, died Monday at Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport after a brief illness.

Born in Needham, Mass., daughter of Fredrick and Mabel Lucas Bosworth, she attended Needham public schools and wasa graduate of the Boston Business School.

A former resident of Needham, she and her husband Rolly had been summer residents of Ocean Point since 1938, until his retirement in 1970, when they moved here to stay.

She was the unofficial caretaker of Ocean Point during the winter months, when she kept keys to all the cottages and let workmen in to do repairs. She was also the keeper of everyone's plants.

Mrs. Ackroyd was a life member of the Boothbay Region Historical Society, a life member of the Garden Club Federation of Maine, Inc., Life and Honorary member of the Boothbay Region Garden Club and its corresponding secretary for many years. She and her husband helped organize the Garden Club's Scholarship Fund. She was also a former member of the Wawenock Power Squadron, former member of the board for Ocean Point Colony Trust, the Damariscotta River Association and a member of the St. Andrews free bed fund.

Mrs. Ackroyd enjoyed working in her garden with her flowers and visiting with her many friends.

Her husband died in 1979.

Surviving are three cousins, Mabella Haynes of Boothbay Harbor and Naples, Fla., George Watson of LaGuna Beach, Calif., and Bill Weatherbee of Ormond Beach, Fla.

Visiting hours will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Simmons & Harrington Funeral Home, 51 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the funeral home with the Rev. Alan Wells-Goodwin officiating. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Boothbay. Arrangements are by Simmons & Harrington Funeral Home.

Portland Newspapers Jul 22, 1998