Sarah (“Sally”) Goodrich

Sarah (“Sally”) Goodrich, an active, independent-minded woman who always loved a good holiday, died peacefully in Hingham on July 4. She will be remembered by her family and friends for how she loved people, pursued her passions and dreams with purpose, and got the most out of every day.

A child of the Great Depression, she was born in Boston and raised in Newton by her parents, Katharine “Kay” Sears Cummings and William Leverett “Lev” Cummings. After graduating from Mount Holyoke in 1951, she married the love of her life, Paul Goodrich of West Roxbury, in 1955. The couple settled in Hingham, where they built a house on the site of the former South School and raised three boys. She lived in Hingham for 65 years. She met Paul on a sailing date; together they owned four cruising sailboats during their 46 years of marriage: Dovekie, Limpet, a second Dovekie, and Que Sera. These boats took them up the New England coast as far as Canada, with favorite ports including Quisset, Edgartown, Marblehead, Boothbay, and Northeast Harbor.

An ardent conservationist, Sally founded the Hingham Conservation Land Trust and served on its board for 23 years. Her personal relationships led directly to the acquisition of two of that group’s signature properties: Jacob’s Meadow and Whortleberry Hollow. Her passion for conservation was influenced by her aunt, Ellen Chase, a founder of the Trustees of Reservations.

Sally was a tireless worker who got things done. After graduating from Mount Holyoke, she worked as a secretary at MIT, where she thrived in a role of supporting leading-edge academicians and scientists. When Paul started his business, she was his able assistant, pounding out sales letters (with true carbon copies) on her trusty Royal typewriter while he hovered over her shoulder. Later, when her boys were older, she returned to the working world for many years as a Driver’s Ed instructor for Hingham High School students — a role that gave her many interesting stories. Throughout her life, she held leadership positions in many organizations she belonged to or volunteered for.

Despite many sadnesses (which she called “bumps in the road”), Sally consistently demonstrated resilience and positivity. She was the caregiver for her terminally ill mother shortly after her marriage. She supported her brother throughout his long struggle with mental health issues. She battled through the loss of her middle child, Rob, in a tragic car accident at the age of 20. She was the primary care-giver for her mother-in-law, Yvonne, who lived at Sally’s house for many years. And she provided remarkable, loving care and nurturing for Paul during his 15-year battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Her optimistic outlook was evident even after suffering a serious fall after three months of Covid-19 isolation at Linden Ponds, her retirement community. “I’ve had a good 90 years,” she said. That was an understatement.

Sally had a wealth of interests and hobbies; friends and family members often found themselves worn out by her busy itinerary, even in her eighties. Her travels took her to over 20 countries and throughout the US, including Cuba, St. Petersburg, Hawaii, and Alaska. Closer to home, her trusty Subaru took her on trips throughout New England to visit with family and friends. She was a longtime member of the Hingham Garden Club, the Hingham Yacht Club, St. John’s Episcopal Church, the White Mountain Ski Runners (which she served as secretary for 23 years), the Hingham Conservation Land Trust, the Hope Town Sailing Club, various book groups, bridge groups, and art groups.

Gardening, watercolor painting, photography, bridge, tennis, sailing, cooking, skiing, bird watching, and water aerobics were among the many activities she embraced with passion through the years. She loved going to theater in Boston, Cambridge and New York while also enjoying music enormously, from live performances of the Boston Symphony to Willie Nelson to simulcasts of the Metropolitan Opera Company. She was an avid and knowledgeable fan of the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics, and was an enthusiastic attendee at the retirement ceremony for David Ortiz, her favorite player (she often wore her Big Papi shirt).

She enjoyed simple pleasures — dancing with Paul in the living room, sailing with family or friends, finding a good bargain at the Talbots outlet, savoring mint chocolate chip ice cream or a Klondike bar, stretching a scallop dinner or lobster roll into a week’s worth of leftovers, or wearing her latest favorite hat.

Family and friends were at the center of Sally’s life. She adored her two sons (Charles of Hamilton, MA and John of Charlottesville, VA) and their wives (Marie Buckley and Michelle Goodrich). She is also survived by six grandchildren (who she called “the frosting on the cake”): Christopher Robert Goodrich and his wife Jaclyn Jennifer Todisco of Back Bay; Jeffrey Fox Goodrich and his wife Kathryn Elizabeth Doble of Oakland, CA; Scott Noel Goodrich and his fiancé Margo Mackenzie Blagden of Malden; Caroline Anne Goodrich of Beacon Hill; Robyn Nicole Goodrich of Roanoke, VA; and Ryan Evan Goodrich of Charlottesville. She often shuttled between Massachusetts and Virginia  for major events and family gatherings. By the time her grandsons Chris and Jeff married, she had become very close with their new wives. Similarly, when other grandchildren formed new relationships, she quickly got to work on knowing their friends and including them in her annual holiday and birthday envelopes. She loved being in on the secret of Scott’s engagement to Margo Blagden in June.

Sally was particularly adventurous and fun-loving during her later years. White-water rafting in Alaska with Jeff, parasailing in Bermuda with Carrie and Robyn, bird-watching in the Canadian maritimes, hot-air ballooning in Virginia with John’s family, and deep-sea fishing in the Bahamas with Charles’s family were among her many adventures. Together with her oldest friend from the Dana Hall School, Di Hunter (who also arranged the first date between Sally and Paul), she helped to sail a catamaran with an all-woman crew from Massachusetts to the Bahamas at the age of 75, which became the subject of a front-page story in the Patriot Ledger (Twilight Sail”).

Sally sold the family home on Main Street after Paul’s death, becoming one of the first residents at the Linden Ponds retirement community in Hingham. She convinced many of her friends to move in as well, resulting in her being chosen to join Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey for the ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2004. In addition to Linden Ponds, she also spent much of her time after Paul’s passing living independently at two vacation homes that she maintained (quite literally) at Pocasset and in Hope Town (Bahamas). Many of her new friends at Linden Ponds complained that she spent too little time there as she would travel so frequently to her vacation homes. She loved Pocasset and Hope Chest deeply, referring to Linden Ponds as her “anchor to windward,” where she would plan her next adventure.

Sally also cherished her other extended family members and stayed in regular contact with them throughout the years. She is survived by cousins Cathie Sims (and her husband Chris) of Princeton, NJ, Ann Wilke of Peru, NY and Olga Sears of Owell, VT; niece Kimi Wren of Charlottesville, VA; and nephews Tony Raynor of Portland OR, Thomas Cummings of Slaton, TX, and Michael Cummings of Round Rock, TX.

As recently as last fall, Sally danced enthusiastically with her grandchildren at Jeff and Katie’s wedding. In January, she was the center of attention at her 90th birthday celebration with family and friends. Despite cumbersome Covid restrictions, dozens of her family members and friends were able to share their love and memories before she passed.

Sally was always sharp and insightful, sharing her wealth of stories (sometimes artfully embellished), insights, and life experiences. During Covid family Zoom calls, she provided levity with her animated, sometimes zany contributions from her small, isolated apartment. She read voraciously on her Kindle throughout the lockdown and enjoyed a daily diet of movies, ranging from Cary Grant and Woody Allen to Parasite (which she found to be “quite unusual”).

Sally lived life on her own terms right to the end. She made the courageous decision to decline medical interventions soon after her fall, when it became clear that she wouldn’t be able to maintain her quality of life and active lifestyle. For her family and friends, there is a deep sense of sadness and unexpected loss, mixed with the warm memories and comforting legacy of a vibrant woman who made the world a better place for all who knew her.

Donations in Sally’s memory can be made to the Hingham Land Conservation Trust, PO Box 10, Hingham MA 02043 (https://hinghamlandtrust.org). Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Pyne-Keohane Funeral Home in Hingham. Burial will be private in Portsmouth, NH, where in her usual well-organized way she had a headstone made for herself more than 15 years ago, alongside Paul and Rob.