Sandra Weygandt

Sandra Marie (Croteau) Weygandt, 71, passed away at her home on Moose Pond in West Bridgton, on Sunday, March 22, 2015, after a brief illness.

The oldest of four daughters of Floyd and Thelma (Whitney) Croteau, Sandra was born in Portland, and spent her earliest years in Portland, Solon and Gray, before the family moved to Bridgton in 1954. Sandra was a 1962 graduate of Bridgton High School, where she was involved in numerous student organizations and earned varsity letters in basketball and softball. The caption chosen by her classmates for her yearbook photo was, “Here's to the girl with a heart and a smile.”

After graduation, Sandra was married to Daniel Brooks Weygandt, then in the Air Force and stationed in Portsmouth, N.H. When Dan's military service was completed, the couple relocated to the area of Dan's previous home near Columbus, Ohio. As the mother of three active children, Sandra participated in many school and community activities, while at the same time pursuing her own career as an underwriter in the commercial insurance industry. After Dan's retirement from the Ohio Bell Telephone Company, the couple returned to Maine and settled into their present home on Moose Pond in West Bridgton.

As so many in the area will testify, after returning to her home town, Sandra did not do much real “retiring,” but instead, she quickly and enthusiastically invested her familiar heart and smile into numerous local organizations. She was for many years an active member of the Bridgton Hospital Guild and served several terms as the Guild's president. In this role she was responsible for the group's extremely successful fundraising efforts, including overseeing the hospital's Twitchell Café Coffee Shop and greatly improving the facilities and operation of its thrift shop. Under Sandra's six years of leadership, the Guild raised and contributed over $250,000 to the hospital.

Sandra also contributed significant time and effort to the First Congregational Church's Ladies' Guild, for which she served terms as secretary, treasurer and president, and was involved in numerous committee functions. Although there would seem to be few hours left in her schedule, Sandra also found time to serve on the Board of Governors of her neighborhood homeowners' association. And, in addition to all of these administrative duties, Sandra was a “Volunteer Angel” at the Bridgton Hospital, and also provided respite care to families of hospice patients.

Sandra's hobbies included sewing, knitting, crafting, and organizing and hosting family and neighborhood social gatherings. She was also an avid photographer. Her lovely shots of local scenery and wildlife-adorned greeting cards, which were on display at various local venues. In 2000, not considering herself yet busy enough with family and community activities, Sandra established the First Impressions cleaning company, which she owned and managed over the past fifteen years. Without doubt, she led a full, productive and purposeful life.

Sandra was predeceased by her parents and by her sister, Roxanne (Croteau) Neal, of Bridgton. She leaves her husband, Dan; their three children, Robert Weygandt, Noelle (Weygandt) Bartrum and Jeffrey Weygandt, all of Grove City, Ohio; and their six grandchildren: Robert's daughter, Valerie Weygandt; Noelle's daughter, Sarah Bartrum; and Jeffrey's daughters, Rachel (Weygandt) Wagner, and Anna, Lydia and Naomi Weygandt. She also leaves sisters Mary Glatz of Scarborough, and Joyce Tessier of Belmont, N.H. Sandra will also be dearly missed by her beloved chocolate lab, Maggie, of West Bridgton.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 27, at 3 p.m., at the First Congregational Church of Bridgton. In lieu of flowers, donations in Sandra's memory may be made to the Bridgton Hospital Guild.