Freeport- Gina LeDuc-Kuntz, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully after a long illness on February 16, 2025, at the age of 57.Freeport- Gina LeDuc-Kuntz, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away peacefully after a long illness on February 16, 2025, at the age of 57.
In the weeks prior to her passing, she wrote down some of her favorite memories that she wanted people to know about. It was hard for her to write by this point, but these are Gina’s words with minimal editing.
I’m writing my own obituary. I don’t know if people do this, but I’m gonna start. I was born in Yokohama, Japan on September 16, 1967, to Arthur R. and Patricia A. LeDuc where they were stationed in the Navy. When I was only one, our family was transferred back state side to the Brunswick Naval Air Station so my father could serve as the officer in charge of the Brunswick Naval Air Station Commissary. Eventually, my family settled in Topsham where my parents opened LeDuc Reality across from the Topsham Dairy Queen.
Growing up in Topsham, I enjoyed my younger days walking along the Androscoggin River, spending time in the woods with my dog, Cleo, and catching frogs and tadpoles in the ponds near my family home on Twin Pond Road. I enjoyed attending the Williams and Cone Schools and walking down to the small Topsham library after school where I would find a quiet spot to read The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, or A Wrinkle in Time, or the Island of The Blue Dolphins. I also enjoyed Girl Scouts at the local Baptist Church on Main Street, youth group at St. Charles, volunteering at Parkview Hospital as a Candy Striper and walking to the Dairy Queen after school to get an ice cream before heading over to my parent’s business, which we called “the Office”.
Unfortunately, I went to Mt. Ararat High School, which wasn’t fun, and that’s about all I have to say about that. After High School, I attended Marlboro College in Vermont and majored in Russian literature and music. While there, I was able to study and be mentored by Luis Batlle who would grow to be one of my dearest friends. On summer breaks from college, I spent time volunteering at Brunswick Historical Society’s newly purchased Chamberlain House. I would ride my bike over the green bridge to get there and was able to transcribe Tom Chamberlain’s writings.
After college, I spent some time in Ireland where I worked with the Volunteers for Peace who assisted Irish itinerant travelers with their needs. In 1992, I married James E. Kuntz, who is a local fisherman from Chebeague Island. Together we raised six children. I worked inside the home, mostly, but occasionally had jobs outside the home. One of those jobs I had was as a AmeriCorps Vista volunteer for United Way of Mid Coast Maine Success By Six program where I implemented the community read aloud program, which happens to be celebrated on Dr. Seuss’s birthday every year. The program recruited over 220 reading volunteers to visit schools and daycare centers. I had other interesting jobs such as picking crab meat at home and selling it on Long Island, helping my husband with his lobster business, and working with the Maine Department of Marine Resources to conduct shrimp biomass studies.
My biggest accomplishment in life has been raising my six children, watching them grow into adulthood and starting their own families. My children and my grandchildren bring me the greatest joys in life. I enjoy nature, raising bees, dandelions, the beauty of Maine islands…and many of the simpler things in life. And I was always ready to help conduct a good maritime or political research project because it was a challenge getting to the “why” behind a question.
Gina was predeceased by her parents, Arthur and Patricia LeDuc.
She is survived by her husband James E Kuntz, her six children: James M. Kuntz and his wife Talia of Gorham; Zackary (Kuntz) Derby and his wife Mindy of Cumberland; Eliza (Kuntz) Jacques and her husband Gabriel of Lewiston; Liam Kuntz of Freeport; Alivia Kuntz of Freeport; and Edward Kuntz of Freeport. Grandchildren, Theodore, James Henry, Samuel, Helena and one more due in April. She is also survived by her two older brothers Kevin and Mark LeDuc, her older sister Lisa Smith, nieces Chelsea, Ariel, Mariam-Rose, Julie, and Karen, and nephews Kyle and Thomas.
She will be missed by everyone. Visiting hours will be held from 3-6 PM Thursday March 6th at Stetson’s Funeral Home, 12 Federal St., Brunswick, ME. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday March 7th at 11:00 AM at St. John the Baptist Church - All Saints Parish, 39 Pleasant St., Brunswick, ME. Her burial will be at St. John the Baptist Cemetery, Pine Street, Brunswick, ME at a later date in the spring.
In lieu of flowers, please help someone in your community in need.