Sandra Fitz-Henry
The Reverend Sandra Douglass McVickar Fitz-Henry
November 23, 1939 – July 8, 2025
The Reverend Sandra Douglass McVickar Fitz-Henry of Waterford, Maine, passed away peacefully at her home on July 8, 2025, surrounded by her family. She was 85.
The great-great granddaughter of longtime Waterford pastor John Abbot Douglass, Sandra retired to Waterford in 2017, returning to her mother’s ancestral home after a lifetime of summer visits to the area.
Sandra (Sandy) was born in Boston on November 23, 1939, the daughter of Olive (Polly) Eveleth Bowditch and David Langston McVickar. She gathered the many life experiences and stories that she would later share with her own children, as the family moved to Rochester, then Nashville, Santa Monica, and finally Malibu, California during her childhood. She spoke of the Victory Gardens at the end of their street in Rochester; told ghost stories about the home in Waterford, and tales about seeing her first double feature film, and about the wildfires in the California canyons that threatened the family home designed and built by their father. She was a fascinating storyteller.
She attended Reed College (where she met her future husband Terrance [Terry] Fitz-Henry), travelled extensively with her family, taught art at the International People’s College in Helsingør, Denmark, studied painting under Arnold Schifrin in Los Angeles, and in 1970 moved with her husband to Oneonta, New York, where she raised her family. During these years, she spent countless hours painting with oils and watercolors, and doing etchings and charcoal drawings, occasionally exhibiting and selling her work. She noticed and appreciated art wherever she found it, whether in a gallery, on the side of a building, or in a doctor’s office.
In Oneonta, she performed with the Community Chorale, taught art as a substitute teacher at the local schools, and eventually became the Religious Education Director at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, where she worked from about 1982 to 1990. Her experiences at the church impressed upon her the deep importance of ministry’s role in holding sacred life’s joys, challenges, and questions, and she felt increasingly called to a life of service. This led her to pursue her Masters of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School. During this time, she trained in clinical pastoral education in Binghamton, New York, where she worked closely with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton. She graduated in 1995 and spent the next year as interim minister at the UUFCC in State College, Pennsylvania. In 1996, she was called to ministry at the Murray Unitarian Universalist congregation in Attleboro, Massachusetts, where she served until her retirement in 2012.
Sandra was deeply committed to the Unitarian Universalist tenets of justice, equity, and compassion. She dedicated herself wholeheartedly to supporting and celebrating the Murray UU community. Often called on to perform weddings and funerals, she always took time to converse deeply with those involved, in order to craft services that would honor their needs. She took particular joy in providing pastoral care for her parishioners, sometimes under the most difficult of circumstances. Her weekly services were also widely celebrated. While she sometimes agonized over them (staying up well into the early hours of Sunday mornings), her words called everyone to a larger sense of purpose and a fuller connection to the sacredness of everyday life.
With an artist’s appreciation for the many shapes and colors of nature, she loved being outside in every season, often collecting leaves, stones, shells, and even insects. The ocean held a particularly special place for her, and in her later years, she made frequent trips to the beaches of Maine with her family and friends.
She had an infectious laugh, a wonderful sense of humor, and an envious ability to remember details about people’s lives, their challenges and joys and dreams, the names of their family and friends and pets. She cared deeply about the people around her – always remembering to check in on people facing difficult circumstances. Until the very end, she remained an intensely loyal friend and mother, often travelling many miles to support family and colleagues undergoing cancer treatments, or sharing her home with friends recovering from hospitalizations.
She is survived by her children: Katherine (and partner David), Erin (and wife Victoria), and Matthew; her grandchildren Kalyn, Devin, Colin, and Charlotte; her sister Mole Schaefer (and husband Tom); her dear friend Carol Waldeier; her loyal cat companion, Nicky; as well as many beloved nieces, nephews, and countless friends. She was predeceased by her parents; her former husband, Terry Fitz-Henry; her sister, Deborah Weiss; her niece, Laura Schaefer; and many extended family and close friends. A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, August 23rd at 3:00pm at the Murray Unitarian Universalist church – 505 N Main St, Attleboro, MA 02703.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Sandra’s name to the Unitarian Universalist Association at uua.org/giving/friends.
A celebration of Sandra’s life will be held this August, in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Details to come shortly. Arrangements are under the care of Chandler Funeral Home and Cremations Services 45 Main St South Paris. To make an online condolence please visit www.chandlerfunerals.com