Nina Sawyer

Born: May 16, 1907
Died: August 25, 1995
Buried:

You have heard about the Great Adventures Marco Polo, Teddy Roosevelt and Edmund Hillary but hold on because we are going to talk about Nina Sawyer’s life and how she filled her soul with adventures.

Born in Sherman, her family moved to Island Falls when Nina was 12 years of age. She completed high school and furthered her education at Perry Normal School in Boston. Upon graduation she began her teaching career in Waltham Massachusetts and later continued her career in Derry New Hampshire. It was here she met and married a former Island Falls hometown man, Frank Sawyer.

During WWII Nina served 2 ½ years with the US Coast Guard in the SPAR division. She was stationed in New York City. This woman’s division paved the way for the Coast Guard woman of today.

In 1932 upon leaving the Coast Guard Nina’s adventurous spirit led her to fly to Europe for a 5 week trip, visiting England, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and France. In 1938 she headed to the West Indies which was a 12-day voyage via boat. She visited Europe 4 times, the last trip being in 1979. She climbed Mt Katahdin 14 times; the first climb took place in 1932. Together with her husband they flew to Labrador making a total of 4 trips. Nina felt that hiking, fishing, hunting and generally enjoying nature’s gifts was always a special moment.

Nina retired to Island Falls but did not slow down as she remained very active in the community organizations and town boards. Some people collect coins or maps, Nina collected history. She was known by all as “The Town Historian”.

Probably Nina’s biggest contribution to Island Falls was her love of history of the town, its people, and writing her first history book entitled Island Falls, Maine 1872-1972. Nina felt that volunteering or belonging to civic and community organization was just part of living in a small town. Nina was instrumental in getting a memorial for Teddy Roosevelt at Bible Point.

For 9 years Nina hosted “Tea with Nina”. All proceeds from this event were donated to Green Valley School.

Today, if you mention the name Nina Sawyer to a citizen of Island Falls, they will tell you she was a remarkable woman.