Susan Hammond

Susan Keene Hammond, 70, passed away at her home in Wiscasset—right where she wanted to be—on July 6, 2019. With the help of modern medicine, Susan was able to beat Death a good number of times, a fact she took pleasure in and could chuckle about.

Born in Damariscotta on December 6, 1948, to Grace and Fred Keene, Susan was the youngest of the five “Keene Girls.” She enjoyed telling her children and grandchildren stories of the one-room schoolhouse of her youth in Bremen and her adventures along the Medomak with her best friend and partner in crime, Peanut. 

Susan graduated from Lincoln Academy in 1966 and promptly married her newfound love, Roland “Bump” Hammond, on July 30. The couple resided in Wiscasset, started their family, and then settled in to the house she helped transform into a home, the place she preferred to be more than anywhere else for the last 46 years.

Family was always her priority, and she visited with her mother and sisters’ families every Sunday down in Bremen, with all the children playing outside and down at the shore. For the most part, Susan was a stay-at-home mom, teaching her children her pastimes: sewing, needlepoint, painting, reading, doing puzzles, and baking sweets. She sewed many matching family outfits in true 70s style, recorded for posterity in Sears family portraits. She made countless trips to the schools to bring forgotten items and could always be depended upon to chaperone field trips and bake for school parties with only a half-day’s notice. 

Susan also worked outside the home periodically, clerking at Miles Memorial Hospital, helping people in need of heating assistance through CEDA’s Midcoast office, reporting for The Wiscasset Times, and serving on the Wiscasset School Board.

She loved her animals over the decades, most notably Missy, Tara, Freddie the Flasher, and Barkley. She also opened her home repeatedly to others who needed a little help or a safe place to stay, providing the difficult balance of minding her own business and being someone to talk to.

Susan took care of the love of her life, Bump, until his death from cancer in 1999, but her devotion continued. Although her children told her it was okay to re-enter the dating scene, she always said no other man could ever measure up to him. Also, she didn’t feel like having to compromise her routine for someone else, since she was settled in her ways.

Susan took the greatest pleasure in her children and grandchildren: truly, it was for her grandsons that she followed more doctors orders than she would have cared to. She took great pride in each of them: Isaac for his positive, outgoing nature and capacity to be a friend to anyone who needs one; Sam for his sweetness, quiet humor, and gift to love and be loved by any animal he touches; Aidan for his ability to cut through the bull and inability to not tell on himself, and for watching Jeopardy! with her; and in spite of his always slamming the door, Ronan for his love for learning, quick wit, long hugs, and deep compassion.

Susan was predeceased by her husband; her parents; and sisters, Ruth Hoffses, Mary Glaude, and Kay Simmons.

She is survived by her children, Angelica Barth and husband Ben of Wiscasset, Tanya Hammond of Wiscasset, and Christian Hammond and partner Jen Rudzinski of Bath; her sister, Brenda Simmons of Waldoboro; grandsons, Isaac Thibodeau and wife Michaela of Pensacola, Florida, Samuel Thibodeau of Wiscasset, and Aidan Drage and Ronan Drage of both Wiscasset and Dresden.

Per Susan’s wishes, there will be no service. Contributions in Susan’s memory may be made to Paralyzed Veterans of America, P.O. Box 921, Wilton, NH 03086.

Arrangements are under the direction and care of the Strong-Hancock Funeral Home, 612 Main Street, Damariscotta, ME 04543.  Condolences, and messages for her family, may be expressed by visiting: www.StrongHancock.com.

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