One of the world’s last remaining Shakers has died in Maine
Sister June Carpenter, one of three practicing Maine Shakers, died Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Shaker Village)
Sister June Carpenter, a member of the world’s only active Shaker community, died early Tuesday. She was 88.
She was one of the three remaining Shakers at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, which was started in 1783.
Sister June, who died at home in the Shaker Village, had been struggling with various health and mobility issues and “her passing was a blessed release from a lot of pain and limitations,” according to a release from Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. She became a Shaker in 1989.
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The community’s two remaining practicing Shakers are longtime member Brother Arnold Hadd, and Sister April Baxter, who joined last year. There will be no visiting hours or funeral, in accordance with Sister June’s wishes, the release said. A private graveside service is planned.
Sister April Baxter picks up a bale of hay while loading a trailer outside the barn at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester in 2025. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)
Born in Boston, Sister June earned a master’s degree in library science from Simmons College and worked at the Brookline Public Library. She first visited the Shaker community in New Gloucester in 1988, when a library was being dedicated. She heard they were in need of catalogers, and volunteered. About a year later she joined the community.
The collection’s curator, David Richards, interviewed her when she first volunteered. When asked what she was like, Richards told others, “If the meek are to inherit the earth then she will get the whole thing.”
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Sister June served as cataloger of the Shaker Library, organizing and cataloging its vast collections of history, writings and records so they could be studied in the future. She faithfully maintained the Shaker community’s book of birthdays and devoted considerable time to visiting fellow Shakers in rehabilation facilities or nursing homes.
She loved taking care of wild birds, turkeys and barn cats in the village, and was a devoted gardener, an avid reader and an enthusiastic football fan. She had a keen memory for general knowledge and was known to friends as the “queen of trivia.”
“Sister June will be remembered for her steadfast faith, her kindness toward all living things, and her dedication to the Shaker way of life. She will be deeply missed by her Shaker family, friends, and the many people whose lives she touched,” the release from Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village read.
Volunteer Jackie Pike, of Brooksville, cleans the second floor of the meeting house during a spring workday at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester in 2025. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
The Shakers are a small Protestant religious denomination with members known for living simple lives in a community where all property is shared and their work and worship are closely intertwined. Close to 30 people have joined the New Gloucester community at some point in the past 50 years, but ultimately decided it was not for them**.**
The Sabbathday Lake Shakers first opened a museum and library in 1931. It became a roadside attraction for vacationers traveling along Route 26 and was expanded into unused buildings as interest in the Shakers grew in the 1960s. The village received National Historic Landmark status in the 1970s and the museum and research library were organized as a nonprofit two years later.
Because the village is open to the public, dozens of volunteers come twice a year to help out. They come in the spring to prepare the village and museum to open for the season, and again in the fall to put it to bed for winter. Friends come from across the Northeast — and sometimes across the country — to dust and wash windows, pack dried herbs, prepare the garden for a new season and clean up winter debris on the hillside property. The village also relies on grants and other funding to restore and maintain the historic property.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Shaker Library, Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, 707 Shaker Road, New Gloucester, Maine 04260.
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Ray Routhier has written about pop culture, movies, TV, music and lifestyle trends for the Portland Press Herald since 1993. He is continually fascinated with stories that show the unique character of. More by Ray Routhier
