Charlene Wilhelmina Peterson Sandstrom McIntire

    PRESQUE ISLE and FLORIDA – Charlene Wilhelmina Peterson Sandstrom McIntire, 90, went home to be with her Lord on Saturday evening, November 24, 2007. Born August 6, 1917, in New Sweden, Maine, the daughter of Carl and Alma E. Peterson (Johnson).     She attended the New Sweden school system and later she attended a Boston Business School. Completing many courses of study there. She worked for 32 years at the Sears and Roebuck Department store in Presque Isle, as an interior decorating consultant, as well as serving in many other departments.
    She also enjoyed traveling, camping and canoeing, having made the Allagash canoeing trip ten times. She was a member of the State Street Baptist Church in Presque Isle. She and Smith ministered to many of the Senior Citizen/Nursing Home groups, as she accompanied them on the piano or accordian as they sang Christian hymns together. She was a featured singer in area churches and the Midsommar Fest in New Sweden. Singing songs in English and Swedish, she was part of the group that recorded the tape entitled, “The Swedish Colony Hometown Singers – 125th Anniversary Favorites”. She was also an active member of the New Sweden Historical Society. On her honeymoon trip to Stockholm, Sweden in 1967, she was told that she spoke better Swedish  than many of the native Swedes.
    She and Smith maintained an active interest in the University of Maine at Orono and Presque Isle, as well as, the Baptist Seminary in Denver, Co.
    Charlene will be remembered by friends and relatives for her humor, frankness, patience, loyalty, love and complete faith and trust in God, her family, and friends. She was deeply loved and respected by all who knew her.
    She is survived by a loving and devoted son, Duane Sandstrom, of Florida; a step-daughter, Nancy L. Todd and her husband Raymond of Caribou; a brother, George Peterson of Redlands, CA; and step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her first husband, Harold A. Sandstrom; Smith McIntire, a beloved husband of 38 years; four brothers, Edwin, Verner, Oscar and Raymond Peterson; and one sister, Adelia Densmore.
    Funeral services were conducted at 1 p.m. Friday, November 30, 2007, at the Lancaster Morgan Funeral Home, 11 Clover St., Caribou with the Rev. Kevin Kierstead officiating. The eulogy was delivered by her loving and devoted son Duane using memories, including poems “Mothers Never Really Die” and “My Creed” and reading four stanzas of “If I Gained The World But Lost The Savior”. Soloist Dan Olsen sang “Children of the Heavenly Father” in both Swedish and English in honor of Charlene’s musical and ancestral background.  Her favorite scriptures Psalm 23 and John 3:16 were read. Several of Charlene’s favorite hymns were sung by Pastor Larry and Rebecca Palmer; “The Old Rugged Cross”, “Near The Cross”, “In The Garden”, “Blessed Assurance”, “He The Pearly Gates Will Open” and “How Great Thou Art”.  The recessional hymns that were instrumental included “In The Sweet By And By”, “Some Golden Daybreak” and “If I Gained The World But Lost The Savior”.  Interment will take place at New Sweden Cemetery at a later date. Those who wish can donate in her memory to the Charlene and Smith C. McIntire Scholarship Fund, at the University of Maine, in Presque Isle, or to the Denver Baptist Seminary, P.O. Box 100000, Denver, Colorado 80250-0100.  Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.lancastermorgan.com.