LEWISTON – Sandy Gregor of Temple, recently of Wilton, died Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009 at Central Maine Medical Center, Lewiston, in the midst of a rich and full life. She had metastatic breast cancer.
Sandy was born in Rochester, Minn., on Feb. 4, 1952 to Rex and Arlene (Haugerud) Gregor. Her father was a salesman and charismatic storyteller, her mother a nurse with a talent for handicrafts.
Sandy and her siblings Tom, Debbie, John and Cheryl grew up in suburban Minnesota and California, but because of strong connections to their grandparents’
farms in southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, the children came to cherish the values of living close to the land and learning the crafts and traditions of their Norwegian heritage.
Sandy attended Mankato State College in Minnesota where she studied journalism, and met Mitch Goodman, a writer and activist whom she later married. In 1972 she moved to Brunswick and began writing for Maine Times. She studied mime in South Paris with a troupe started by Tony Montanaro, then moved to Temple and married Mitch. Their son Matty was born in 1980.
A devoted friend, confidante and loving mother, Sandy cultivated strong and enduring relationships throughout her community. She shared her strength and insights with many people, who looked to her for advice, knowledge and support.
She was active in numerous political movements and social causes, including the anti-war movement.
In recent years, she focused on health and aging, assisting seniors on a variety of issues.Sandy’
s work with seniors began at the Farmington Home for the Aged (80 Main St.), and continued, in the mid-1990s, when she became the Wilton-based Senior Center coordinator for the Western Maine Area Agency on Aging (now SeniorsPlus). She taught computer classes and healthcare education, organized such events as the annual community yard sale, compiled a monthly newsletter, and enjoyed bus trips with the seniors to theaters, museums, and the Maine coast.
She worked briefly for W.A. Mitchell, and quickly became adept at making elegant wooden chairs.
Over the years, Sandy also reported for the Franklin Journal and the Lewiston Sun Journal, most recently as a columnist writing on such themes as country living, environmentalism, health, memory, and humor.
At the time of her diagnosis late last fall, she had begun a new career as energy auditor with the Franklin County CAP agency.
Sandy will be remembered as a woman of many passions and talents, including but by no means limited to gardening, writing, landscape painting, sewing, spinning, knitting and designing knitwear, woodworking, and making beautiful wooden bowls through woodturning, an art she avidly embraced. She belonged to the Maine Woodturners Association and produced its newsletter 2003-07.
She loved canoeing, birdwatching, and living near nature.
She will be deeply missed by family and friends, especially her son Matty, of Somerville, Mass., and Donn Davis, of Wilton, the love of her life.
There will be a memorial service Sun., Oct. 25, at 2:30 p.m., at Trinity United Methodist Church, 612 Farmington Falls Rd. (Rt. 2), Farmington. The service will be held under the care of Farmington Friends Meeting (Quakers), which Sandy attended.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her name to the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, 10 High St., Suite 301, Lewiston ME 04240.
RIP Sandy. Yours was a life too short, but you used to enrich the lives of others.
May the faith and the love of family and friends comfort all who knew her. My heart is very sad to learn that Sandi is no longer with us. Knowing her was a privilege.
My heart goes out to Matty – your mother will be so missed by the entire community, and we know you were the light of her life.
It is with heavy heart that I hear this news. I thought many times to call to see how she was doing. Am planning to be at the service Sunday. She was a fine lady.
I worked with Sandy at Seniors Plus in 2003 and we became fast friends, and sporadically kept in touch since. I think of Sandy every spring when the daffodils are blooming, knowing she had hundreds in her yard. Once I gave her a log from my apple tree and she turned it into a beautiful bowl for me that I treasure. May Sandy’s strong spirit live on. My condolences to all her loved ones.