KENNEBUNK, Maine — Tim Hussey, a business and community leader who was a staunch advocate for education, lost his battle with cancer Monday.
The Hussey Seating Company in North Berwick, where Hussey served as president and CEO, announced the loss of its leader in an email Monday morning, saying Hussey, of Kennebunk, died peacefully at Massachusetts General Hospital “surrounded by his family after a long, courageous battle with cancer. He was 59 years old.”
In the business community, Hussey was a member of the sixth generation of Hussey family ownership at Hussey Seating Company, which was founded in 1835. He succeeded his father, Philip W. Hussey, Jr., as president in 1995 and assumed the role of CEO in 1996.
“Tim was passionate about his Family’s commitment to Hussey Seating Company, and his mission to see the seventh generation of the Family continue that proud legacy of ownership of the Family business. His mantra was ‘We’re a family business — in it for the long run,’” the company’s email stated. “As he did with every challenge, Tim faced his disease head on, with one of his priorities being to ensure a smooth transition of the day-to-day management of the company and to reaffirm the Family’s commitment to see the business pass to the 7th generation of ownership and beyond.”
As CEO of Hussey Seating, Sen. Susan Collins said Hussey “proudly and successfully led one of Maine’s oldest family-owned businesses into the 21st century.
“Tim was a remarkable, kind and intelligent leader with a deep commitment to our state and to his community,” Collins said. “The optimism, tenacity, and good humor with which Tim battled cancer was truly an inspiration, and he will be greatly missed by all those who knew him. My prayers and sympathy go out to his wife, Marcia, and their three children.”
Speaker of the House Mark Eves said Hussey’s impact as a business and civic leader “cannot be overstated.”
“He was passionate about his family business built on the strength of six generations and its role in the community. His devotion extended well beyond the town lines of North Berwick, reaching throughout Maine as he lent his expertise and commitment to efforts like the Maine Economic Growth Council and Educate Maine. We are better off as a community and a state because of Tim’s dedication and the legacy he leaves behind. We will miss him dearly,” Eves said.
In his community, Hussey served on the RSU 21 Board of Directors from 2008 to 2014. His work during that time included serving as chair of the district’s Facilities Committee, moving forward the renovation projects at Kennebunk High School, Kennebunkport Consolidated School and Mildred L. Day School. He also served as the chair of Educate Maine and as honorary campaign co-chair of the York County Community College’s Changing Lives & Strengthening Community campaign, a capital campaign to raise funds for a new 18,000 square foot building on the college’s Wells campus. The project broke ground at the end of May.
“The college is very saddened by the loss of Tim Hussey. He was one of the preeminent business leaders in York County and a true friend of YCCC,” said President Dr. Barbara Finkelstein. “The Hussey family going back has been a very great supporter of the college, and Tim in particular. I’ve been here two years and he has been very involved with the fundraising for our new building and has just been a tremendous support.”
In 2014, Hussey received the Joel Stevens Community Spirit Award from the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce. According to Hussey Seating Company, he also received the Kenneth M. Curtis Leadership Award from the Maine Development Foundation and he was inducted as a member of the Junior Achievement Maine Business Hall of Fame.
Last year, the RSU 21 Board of Directors presented Hussey with the Payson L. Hunter Award, an annual award given to a member of the community for outstanding dedication and service on behalf of the schools in Arundel, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. Hussey was nominated by the RSU 21 administrative team for his “outstanding dedication and service to our schools.”
During his six years on the RSU 21 board, Hussey “led or actively participated in many initiatives to improve our schools. Most notably, Mr. Hussey worked on the building projects for more than four years of his tenure. In addition to his formal service on the board, Mr. Hussey was raised in Kennebunk, attended our schools, and spent countless hours volunteering while his children attended our schools,” the award nomination states.
RSU 21 Superintendent Katie Hawes said the thoughts and prayers of those in the district are with Hussey’s wife Marcia and their children.
“He lived an incredible life and continually gave back to the community,” Hawes said of Hussey. “We will miss him dearly. In many ways, his legacy will live on with these new renovation projects.”
Bruce Lewia, assistant principal at Kennebunk High School, said Hussey’s community involvement and generosity extended right into the schools. When chairs were needed in the KHS auditorium, and the school did not have funds available, Lewia said Hussey “offered engineers to make them fit our auditorium and all we had to pay for was to have them put in.”
Lewia said in his work on the board, Hussey’s input “was always spot on.”
“He could read the community well and he was just one of those people that you just always loved working with because you always got the job done,” Lewia said. “So many things about him were special.”
Lewia said Hussey’s children – Hannah, Philip, and Olivia, all graduates of Kennebunk High School – were “gifts to KHS.”
“All three of them,” Lewia said. “They certainly carry on his tradition of doing your best and being part of a community.”
In 2014, Hussey was named a Mover & Shaker by the York County Coast Star for his dedication to the RSU 21 building projects. During an interview with the Coast Star, Hussey said it was the family business that got him involved in the local community and that before him, his father served on a number of town groups.
“It’s a legacy of community involvement,” Hussey said at the time. “It’s what I’ve been taught. I believe you give back to the community you believe in. There’s something about working right in the community.”