Hampton Beach tribute: Sand sculpture celebrates lives of Maura and Jake Fleming

HAMPTON — Only six weeks after losing Hampton Beach icon Jake Fleming in mid-April, the community is reeling from a second loss.

His wife and former Purple Urchin owner, Maura Dumont Fleming, died after a brief illness at 58 on May 31.

The couple was a dynamic duo at Hampton Beach for decades. Jake, as the face and jack-of-all-trades of the Hampton Beach Casino for 40 years, and Maura, the energy and smile behind the Purple Urchin restaurant. They met at the beach as youth, married after being friends for years, then lived, worked and loved, pouring their hearts into the beach community, supporting residents, families, staff and visitors alike.

“They were an amazing couple; they complemented each other,” said Bob Preston, of Preston Real Estate. “They never had a bad word to say, and always saw the good side of everything. They were wonderful, wonderful together.”

In memory of Jake and Maura, family and friends commissioned a special sculpture honoring the couple at the upcoming Sand Sculpting Classic contest this weekend at Hampton Beach. According to the event coordinator Greg Grady, the piece will be a likeness of the couple, sculpted by Abe Waterman, a talented sand artist from Prince Edward Island, Canada.

“Not every sand sculptor can do this kind of work because the likeness has to be captured,” Grady said. “That’s why we asked Abe Waterman to do it.”

Grady said the Flemings’ sculpture will not be in the juried portion of the competition but is an important memorial for so many at Hampton Beach.

“Both were great people who did a lot for Hampton Beach,” he said. “They have the respect of many people here.”

He credited Dean Merrill for helping make sculpture happen.

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Maura Fleming ran Purple Urchin with a smile for decades

Like her late husband, Jake, who was raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, and became enamored with Hampton Beach as a youth, Maura Dumont Fleming was born in a Merrimack Valley community: Chelmsford, Massachusetts. But the Dumont family moved to Hampton Falls in 1978, when Maura was a teenager, according to her sister, Mary Dumont, where the love of nearby Hampton Beach grew strong.

Her sister’s friendliness and love of the hospitality industry was born young, according to Mary Dumont, for their parents, Maureen and Emile Dumont, owned a hotel in Chelmsford, the Radisson Heritage Hotel, and their five children grew up part of the scene.

After graduating from Winnacunnet High School in 1983, Mary Dumont said her sister continued in the family business, working in the hotel and food service industry up and down the East Coast for years. But Maura would finally settle at the Purple Urchin, Mary Dumont said, the restaurant her parents owned. Maura ran it for years, according to Mary Dumont, until she took ownership herself.

Maura’s enthusiasm for the business, for people, and life in general, came from their mother, Maureen, who could light up a room, according to Mary Dumont.

“Maureen Dumont was larger than life,” Bob Preston said. “Her laugh was infectious, and Maura was like that.”

“She absolutely was,” said Mary Dumont of her sister. “She had that same gift and a very magnetic personality, but there was also a caring goodness about Maura. My sister was the most amazing person I’ve ever known.”

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Hampton Beach community mourns Maura and Jake

That sentiment about both Maura and Jake Fleming is shared by many at Hampton Beach, according to Hampton Beach Village District Commissioner and town Selectman Chuck Rage.

Jake was known by many at the Casino as "the mayor of Hampton Beach. He was the face and voice of the building and its many attractions, serving as general manager for more than 40 years.

Maura ran the Purple Urchin for 25 years until she and Jake sold it in 2019.

Jake died on April 14 at age 71 after a year fighting esophageal cancer.  Six weeks later, Maura died.

"Heaven got two of the best people He ever created in the last 30 days," David Hartnett, the former owner of the Mainsail Motel and Cottages, wrote on Facebook.

Several businesses honored the couple, including the Casino and the Sea Ketch, which has a sign that stated, "We will miss you Maura, Cheers to you, our friend."

“They had a personality that was huge,” Rage said. “They were an important part of this place.”

Preston remembered that even when times got tough, Maura Fleming’s good words and laughter were never silenced. She always had the ability to see the glass as half full.

“Maura had cancer twice,” Preston said, “but when she walked into the room, she was always smiling. The world needs more Mauras in it.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton Beach sand sculpture pays tribute to Maura and Jake Fleming