Obituary of Sara Alice Brown

On September 11, 2017, after several years of living with Multiple System Atrophy, Sara Alice Brown walked through the gates of heaven into her Savior’s arms. Sara was born in Bangor, Maine on August 23, 1949 to Richard A. Brown and Clara (Osgood) Brown. At around the age of five she and her parents moved to Winterport, Maine where she lived until she graduated from Winterport High School in 1966. She worked as a hair dresser for a number of years until she and her husband at that time, George E. Clements, opened a small store in Newburgh, Maine called The Meat Shop. After several years of working at the store, she began attending the University of Maine part time working toward a degree in education. During this time she also became interested in learning sign language and eventually went on to start a ministry at her church for the hearing impaired. Later, after The Meat Shop closed, Sara worked as a sign language translator at Carmel Elementary. She eventually earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and began working at Carmel Elementary as a teacher and then moved on to Levant Elementary. While teaching, Sara continued her educational pursuits and earned her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. She then went on to work at the East Belfast School in Belfast, Maine as a literacy specialist for a little over a decade. In 2011, while still working at East Side Elementary, she was diagnosed with a Parkinsonian disorder (later discovered to be Multiple System Atrophy). She retired from teaching in 2013. As her disease progressed, she spent her last two years living with her daughter, Mindy, son-in-law Dean, and grandsons Connor and Colby. She was so greatly loved and cherished by her family and friends, who will always remember her love for God, her compassion and kindness, her adventurous spirit, and her delightful sense of humor—which manifested itself throughout all of life’s circumstances no matter how dour. Sara is survived by her loving daughter, Melinda (Mindy) Clements Rowlands, her much loved son-in-law Dean, her two beloved grandsons, Connor and Colby, and her brother Leland Brown and nephew Justin (Jesse) Brown. She is also survived by very special friends, Brenda and Roger Rowlands and Kathy and John Hamlin. A loving and heartfelt thank you also goes out to the men and women at Waldo County General Hospital and Maine Health Care at Home for the incredible support and care that you provided for my mother these past two years. A celebration of life will be held Saturday, September 16th at 10:00 A.M. at the Morrill Baptist Church 26 S. Main St. Morrill, Maine. Donations may be made in Sara’s memory to the Multiple System Atrophy Coalition at www.multiplesystematrophy.org