originally posted on 6/30/2025
Photo: Peg Batchelder collection. View full-sized image.
May Coryell was a woman of strong spirit with an abiding sense of adventure. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Marietta College in Ohio, she served in the Peace Corps, first in Zaire and then in Palau, Micronesia, as a teacher. Staying on in Palau after her Peace Corps service, she helped write the island nation’s constitution. May returned to Vermont to earn her master’s degree at the School for International Training, which led to a lifelong career of teaching English as a second language. She taught in Vermont and Massachusetts before moving to Connecticut to establish an English as a Second Language program at Middlesex Community College.
May was the 2013 recipient of the Spirit of ACE Award.
Photo: S. Madonna Horcher. View full-sized image.
May met Peg Batchelder, the love of her life, in Massachusetts in 1987. The two of them enjoyed many activities together, most notably riding roller coasters in parks around the world. May joined ACE in 1994 and attended numerous ACE events, including annual conventions, preservation conferences, international events and regional ACE events in addition to many park-sponsored events and media days. In 2006 she suffered the loss of a leg in a car accident, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to enjoy the thrill of the ride. She was honored with the Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Manufacturer’s Award (aka the “Spirit of ACE Award”) in 2013 in recognition of her perseverance.
In 2006, when Connecticut legalized civil unions for same-sex partners, May and Peg celebrated 19 years together with a formal ceremony. In preparation for this, they took ballroom dance lessons and discovered a new hobby that brought them much pleasure and new friends in the years to come. May fought her way back from the leg injury not only to walk but to dance again. In 2009, Peg and May were legally married in a “Celebration of Life” tribute to abiding love and perseverance in adversity.
May enjoyed coaster adventures such as the 2002 European Coaster Odyssey and 2003 ACE Preservation Conference before and after her move to Maui, Hawaii, in 2017 with partner Peg.
Photo: Peg Batchelder collection. View full-sized image.
Photo: Peg Batchelder collection. View full-sized image.
Photo: Tim Baldwin collection. View full-sized image.
Upon retirement in 2017, May and Peg moved to Maui, Hawaii, to fulfill May’s dream of island living. Even after retiring to Hawaii, she still traveled in the United States and internationally in search of the next coaster adventure. Those who knew her can attest to her positive spirit and her open friendliness to all. Her exact coaster count is unknown, but it was somewhere in the 700s.
After nearly six years of “living the dream,” a tragic wildfire destroyed their home, along with most of the town of Lahaina. Devastated by the loss of their home, as well as their two beloved cats, May and Peg moved to Oahu, where they had access to better care for May’s increasing health needs. Her health became fragile, and she developed kidney failure, which eventually proved refractory to dialysis. After fighting for several weeks, she passed peacefully at home, with Peg by her side. Her ashes will be scattered on Maui, where her heart remained. She is sure to be riding coasters still, in another life! Enjoy a ride in her memory.
— Peg Batchelder
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