Beverly Ann Sabine

On May 19, 2025, Beverly Ann Sabine passed away at the age of 95 with her daughter and son by her side. Beverly was born on September 11, 1929, to Harry and Verna Buxton in Madison, Maine. Beverly was the oldest of two daughters:

Beverly was preceded in death by her parents Harry and Verna Buxton, husband Charles “Rodney” Sabine and one of her daughters Shelley Fitzgerald. She is survived by son Clayton Sabine of Ghana, Africa; son Steve and wife Kathe Sabine of Redmond, Oregon, daughter Randie and husband Ron Weathers of Salem, Oregon, Sadly, Daughter Shelley preceded her in death by 7 months but Shelley’s husband, Orrin Fitzgerald resides in Caanan, Maine; son Scott and wife Shari Sabine of Ft Wayne, Indiana, daughter Wanda and husband Michael Shaw of Sagle, Idaho; sister, Hazel Abbott of Sun City West, Arizona, Sister-in-law, Helen Sabine of Sabattus, Maine as well as numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews, all of whom she loved very much.

For some of her young life, Beverly grew up with her younger sister on a farm that their parents were taking care of in the absence of the owners. Like many families living through the Depression, it was all hands-on deck when it came to work. They learned to do chores at a very young age which allowed the adults to handle things a child couldn’t. Living in the country where neighbors were not in proximity, afforded a closeness in the bond of the sisters, and with it the ability to learn how to entertain themselves. Mom often told stories of life and the way she grew up. She would try to describe places she lived and things about her past that were always interesting yet unfamiliar except for having seen them in shows or history books, like going to school by horse and buggy, going to school with several grades in a one room schoolhouse, moving some baby pigs into the house to keep the warm in the winter, warming the house and cooking on a wood stove with a warming closet, using an outdoor outhouse, drawing water from a pump at the sink and filling tubs for baths, or filling the ringer washing machine to wash clothes. She, like most of us, had indoor chores like cleaning and doing dishes which weren’t any more fun to do back in her day than today, however, to alleviate the boredom she and her sister would rest the hymnal on the window sill by the sink and sing while they worked. It made the chore go a little faster. This may be where her love of hymns started. My grandmother took her daughters to church starting a couple of weeks after they were born. They attended the Church of the Nazarene in Skowhegan, Maine throughout their childhood and beyond.

When Beverly was a young teen, her mother was laid up in the hospital with her back. In order to keep the money coming in that her Mom made from selling milk and homemade butter, Bev and her sister had to take over the milking chores and making butter and selling them. Luckily, they had helped their mother with both, which included churning, coloring, and printing the butter into squares. During this time of her mother being away, Bev decided that she needed to take care of the chicken that her Mom was planning on for food. This was another job that the girls had been part of observing, but not something they relished having to do. Bev told her sister, “We are going to have to kill the chicken. She assured her scared little sister that all she had to do was hold it and she (Bev) would do the rest. Well long story short, her sister held it, eyes closed until she heard the whack of the axe then let go immediately. From there you can use your imagination, and to say the least Beverly was not happy with her sis.

At about 16 years of age Beverly worked for the summer as a Chambermaid, cleaning cottages for the performers of the longest running summer theater in the nation, Lakewood Theater in Madison, Maine and, although she probably saw some of the Stars, she didn’t really know them to see them.

Now, life was not all work and no play for Beverly as she grew up, and coming straight from her mouth was the admission that she was the instigator of many (I’ll call them adventures) for she and her sister. One such story- Their mom always took a 15-minute nap after lunch and the girls were to play quietly, usually outside. Seems they had a shed that connected to the house at the roof. They had been told previously to stay off the roof but their Mom was taking a nap so Beverly thought it was a good idea for them to climb up on the roof of the house, never thinking that walking on the roof would probably be heard by someone inside the house. Soon they heard a familiar voice calling, “girls come down here!” They climbed down and Bev told her sister,” You go first”, knowing they were in trouble. Not really sure who went first, as they were probably already crying in anticipation of what was going to happen, but a leather slipper met each of their derrieres as they went through the door. Another time they hooked the horse up to a 2-wheeled gig, each holding a rein when one of them, (Bet you can’t guess who,) pulled too hard, one wheel went up over the log pile and tipped the gig on its’ side. But the adventure which she relayed numerous times is the story of when she talked her sister into getting the old work horse out of the barn, which they had been told not to do without asking. She said this horse was gentle, but he was old and didn’t really want to go very fast, so they rode him over under the big shade tree and broke off a switch as she figured that it would hurry him along a little, and thus it did. He took off for the barn as fast as he could go, up the long driveway. He was a big draft horse, and Bev told her sister if they didn’t flatten themselves out on his back they would likely not clear the barn door opening. He stopped part way through the door, and the girls were basically pinned between him and the door frame. Luckily or unluckily as Mom recalled it, their mom had seen the horse go running by and went to investigate. She backed him out so the girls could get off. It is a wonder they made it through their childhood with Bev in the lead.

Bev had to quit school one year prior to graduation due to having appendicitis and going through surgery. She had met a boy at Church camp. They continued seeing one another, and he began attending the same church. He became her special someone and they became the so-called item. “Rodney” Sabine was approx. 2 years older than Bev. When he was 18, he was drafted into the service where he served in the Army from May 1945 to Jan 1947. Even though they were apart they stayed committed, and on September 26, 1947, fifteen days after she turned 18, she married Charles Rodney Sabine (who preceded her in death by 5 years) Over the next 73 years together they raised 6 children:

Beverly’s job, first and foremost, was her children. She was the kind of mother who always made her children’s friends feel welcome; some even called her, their 2nd mom. She used to say when it was dinner time, she had to count noses because she never knew which kid would bring home a friend or a bunch of their teammates. She was a good cook and very clever with stretching food with some unknown leftovers for a casserole she threw together. She loved entertaining friends for dinner or dessert and often did so after Church or invited guests for Thanksgiving or some other holiday.

With 6 kids she often spent more time at the hospital than she would have liked. One of us was sick, injured, or in some kind of accident like when one of my brothers managed to roll a car. She played taxi for us kids, dropping us off or picking us up at the ice-skating rink, or church function, many times picking up another of our friends who didn’t have a ride. She was an involved Mom rarely missing any sporting event that my brothers were participating in. In fact, she and our Pastor at the time, Don Shelp, could usually be found at any home football games close to the 50 yd line- “for the best view”, she would say. She was sometimes there with her hair in curlers to be ready for church on Sunday, but she was there. She was quite an avid football spectator but didn’t much appreciate those who sat on the wrong side and rooted for the opposing team. She was so exasperated at one such gentleman that was sitting in front of her, that when he yelled out for the other team, she pushed his stocking cap right down over his head. She said, “he left at halftime and didn’t come back.” We teased her about that one, it was so out of character for her.

She would drive to an away meet and sit all day at a wrestling tournament that my brother, Steve, was wrestling in. She loaned our car to a friend of mine who needed to take a driving test. During the winter she often made hot cocoa and had doughnuts ready when a bunch of us kids who had been snowmobiling came by the house to warm up before going out again.

The fact that she never graduated bothered her, so after her two older sons graduated, when the school offered night classes to obtain a diploma, she went back to night school and graduated receiving her diploma in 1969.

She enjoyed camping and traveling with family and friends. She and Dad went to Europe on their 50th Wedding Anniversary; they often went on the senior church trips, took several trips to Hawaii or went on road trips throughout the US. They often went with close friends like Wilford and Shirley Dickinson, whom some of you probably remember. They too lived in Maine like Sabine’s, which is where their friendship originated. To be honest I never remembered the name Wilford because growing up he was known to us as “Snook.” They moved from Maine but went to California for several years before relocating to Salem, Oregon and attending the First Church of the Nazarene. Together again, the friendship was reestablished. Bev and Rod spent many evenings with Snook and Shirley playing Rook. Burt and Margaret Hazelton were a couple of their friends from Maine. Margaret and Bev grew up attending church and school together and were best friends for all these years as Margaret is still living. They remained close, visiting a few times but calling often. Bev and Rod met Susan and Bud Bibelheimer here at this church and became close friends making trips together, sometimes going on the senior trips or off again to Hawaii. They seemed to enjoy being together. Mom and Dad even rented the other half of a duplex for a few years that the Bibelheimer’s owned while living in the other half. And then there was Dick and Ramona Warren who I believe at the time were also attending this church and Rod and Dick were both working at Hilcrest School. They made several road trips together and most Friday or Saturday night went out for dinner together. Mom’s sister Hazel and her husband Clarence lived in California, taking turns visiting back and forth with Bev and Rod, and they all took a trip to Hawaii together. My sister Shelley, her husband Orrin, and my husband Ron and I made trips to Hawaii with Mom and Dad. One such trip was so Mom could climb Diamond Head one more time after having, and healing from open heart surgery. She made it to the top and was so proud of herself as we were of her. As you can see, Mom loved Hawaii and would have gone again if her health had cooperated. We were all friends as well as family and enjoyed the times we traveled together. Friendship was everything to Mom, and she and my Dad made friendships that lasted a lifetime.

She had several jobs before and while raising her children. In Maine, she worked in the Woolen Mill, Woolworth’s running the lunch counter, for the State of Maine Women’s Correctional Center as a house matron, and as Church Secretary for Pastor Shelp.

In 1979 Bev and Rod moved to be closer to their adult children who had all moved to Oregon and settled in Salem. Bev and Rod managed an apartment complex in Keizer, Oregon for a few years, and Bev went to work for the Oregon Department of Revenue where she retired from.

Beverly and Rodney started attending Salem First Church of the Nazarene when they moved to Salem, and Bev attended until her health would no longer allow. She met and made many wonderful friends here; many I know to see but I’m sorry I don’t know you all. A few I need to mention: Shannon & Ron McFadden. She was so grateful for the attention they gave. Ron was so faithful to come get her from the car and wheel her to her seat until he physically couldn’t do it anymore but still wanted to, and Shannon sat in church with mom and showed Mom the friendship she so needed. Pastor Jerry & Kathy visited, called or text as did Wyn and Cheryl Priest. Wyn often provided reading material until Mom could no longer read them. There are so many more that made it a point to greet her, but one couple that sticks out in my mind is Maria and Tony Dominguez. Ever faithful, even when I knew Maria was not feeling well herself, she made it a point to make her way over to see Bev. I would be remiss if I did not mention the ushers that were so attentive and helpful. Bob and Alan. I wish I could name you all, but if you were her friend, you were each special to her and she really missed all, when she could no longer make it to church.

Bev, Beverly Mom, Grandma, whoever she was to you, she will be missed by her family and friends, but she would tell you, even though she loved us all, that she’s where she wants to be, with her God and reunited with her husband, daughter and many more family and friends, and that she hopes to see you again someday!

This in no way portrays all I wish you knew about my Mom, but hopefully you get the idea.

The slideshow which will follow is not only pictures of Mom but is made up of Mom and Dad’s legacy of family and friends as they are huge part of who Mom lived for, worried about and prayed for.

As a representative of Beverly’s family, we want to thank you all for being here today to celebrate her. Thank you, John Wack, for the music. Those songs were specifically requested by Mom. And to Pastor Jerry who was a very special friend to Mom; he visited and reminisced about the good old days with her (Guess they had more of the good old days to reminisce about than some of us) and I especially appreciate the time he gave her. It always left her with a smile.