Priscilla Sargent

Priscilla Sargent 1934 – 2022 BRUNSWICK – Priscilla Sargent, nurse, globetrotter and fiercely independent spirit, died in Brunswick, Maine, on July 11, 2022 after a brief final illness at the age of 88. Priscilla grew up in Montreal, where she graduated from Trafalgar School For Girls, then trained in nursing at the Montreal General hospital. She worked her entire career as a nurse, at hospitals in Boston, Portland Ore. and London, and infirmaries at the Hinkley School and Colby College. After retiring to care for her father in 1990, she found a new role as private nurse and traveling companion for Ms. Dorée Taylor for the better part of a decade – first internationally, and when Dorée became too frail for such distances, in an RV journeying all around North America. As head nurse in the Colby College Infirmary from 1968 to 1990, she was known as Sarge for her gruffly affectionate way of getting reluctant Colby students to follow doctor’s orders. She saw them through common colds, sports injuries, and the occasional hangover. Many students of her era will remember her beautiful sheltie, Simon. Her commands to him were always phrased in the utmost politeness, “Sit, please.” Similarly, she was a model of manners and precision in between flashes of her broad smile. She was also an avid traveler, birder, and photographer. She made two trips to Antarctica, four to Africa, and traveled to many other places in the world both as a girl and as an adult well into her eighties. Photography from her travels centered around animals, especially birds. (Priscilla would make a point of telling you she’d bagged all 18 penguin species with her camera, though one might quibble about the last few as they’re arguably subspecies.) She collected bird-themed art from the places she visited, and by the time she made the decision to downsize, the category she struggled most to triage was the birds. Priscilla was a bit of a migratory bird, herself. A dual Canadian and American citizen, she didn’t like to report back about her whereabouts; she just wanted to fly and be free. She’d let you know when she’d be in town, “please’n thank-YOU! ” She was never known to provide a forwarding address or an ETA, and trained all of us in her life to wait for her, certainly not the other way around. No matter where she roamed, she always returned to Maine and to the Brunswick area she loved so dearly. As the cancer she had fought off three years prior returned with a vengeance, and she grappled with the reality of the situation, Priscilla contemplated where she would like to be cared for: She was adamant that she wanted to stay in Brunswick, and stay in Brunswick she did. Priscilla leaves behind her brother Robert (Mary) Sargent; nephew Ryan Sargent (Brendan), niece Debra Macapagal (Richard); grand niece Amelia Macapagal; numerous loving cousins from the extended Coutts, Harvey, Richards, and Sargent families in Canada and the USA; her adopted Maine family the Eastons, friends in Brunswick, Florida, Sargentville and Montreal; and a vast trove of photography slides, the organizing of which was to be her next project. In remembrance of Priscilla, please consider a donation to: your local conservation society, or perhaps grab a pair of binoculars and a walking stick and simply go to the woods