AUGUSTA ? Amy O. McNaughton, 81, a longtime resident of Vassalboro, passed away peacefully Friday, Jan. 3, 2003, at the Maine Veterans Home, Cony Road, Augusta. She was born in Augusta, July 4, 1917, the daughter of Brunswick Burns Oatway and Marjorie Marshall Oatway. Amy attended Augusta schools and after high school at Cony was employed for several years at Williamsburg, Va. Oct. 13, 1942, with the advance of World War II, Amy was one of the first women volunteers from Maine to enlist in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), which was authorized by Congress May 14, 1942, and on July 1, 1943, changed to Women's Army Corps (WAC) and became a component part of the Army. After five months of special training at Des Moines, Iowa, attending Bakers and Cooks School and Mess Sergeant School, Amy was assigned to Camp Pickett, Va., and was noted for being the first female mess sergeant in a men's army camp! Following her honorable discharge as staff sergeant in November 1945, Amy was employed at the Togus Veterans Administration Hospital as mail, file and escort clerk. In September 1949, Amy married Lawrence McNaughton of Hallowell. They established their home in Vassalboro and Amy continued to work at Togus until 1954, when she managed her own catering business and also cooked for the school lunch program in the Vassalboro school system. She was a member of Riverside Congregational Church, Fellowship of Riverside Congregational Church, Riverside Study Club and American Legion Post 2. Amy was predeceased by her husband of 36 years, Lawrence McNaughton; her daughter, Nancy McDougold; two sisters, Mildred Vaughan and Elaine Oatway; two brothers, Gordon and Hubert Oatway; and a sister-in-law, Charlotte Oatway. Survivors include her son, Robert (Red) McNaughton of Chesuncook Village; two granddaughters, Jennifer McDougold of Las Vegas, and Amy McDougold of Wiscasset; a sister, Elizabeth (Betty) Colfer of Olympia, Wash.; a sister-in-law, Mary Oatway of East Winthrop; and several beloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. For the past 2 1/2 years, Amy had made her home at Goudreau's Retirement Inn at Winslow. Admired for her amiability and consistent good humor, Amy has left a silent place among her devoted relatives and friends. Information regarding a celebration of her life and burial at Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Civic Center Drive, Augusta, will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Riverside Congregational Church, c/o Joseph A. Dee, 34 Hayford St., Farmingdale 04344, or the Kennebec Valley Humane Society, Pet Haven Lane, Augusta 04330. Arrangements are in the care of Knowlton & Hewins Funeral Home, Augusta.