Sheila Paget

Norwich, Vt. — Sheila Stuart (Robertson) Paget, of Norwich, Vt., died on Wednesday April 13, at the age of 94. She was a Scot from the United Kingdom, and came to the United States in 1959, becoming a citizen on her eightieth birthday. Her chosen career was the raising of her four children, but, following a divorce, she enrolled in the University Without Walls, at the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a B.A. in Education within two years. This was augmented a year later by a Master’s degree in Education granted by Antioch College.

After moving to Vermont in 1983, Sheila became certified as a Special Educator and served in that role for nine years at Fairlee Elementary School, enjoying the fellowship of her colleagues and loving the children she worked with.

Throughout her years in Vermont, Sheila lived a rich life, active in her church, involved in the lives of her four children and six grandchildren and, after retirement, free to pursue her many creative interests. Typically right-brained, Sheila enjoyed designing and working in her garden, embroidery, knitting, sewing, painting, playing the piano and singing in choral groups— the last a particular joy. With a very small body of published prose, Sheila came late in life to the writing of poetry and, having come early to reading, took great pleasure in volunteering in the public library wherever she lived. Sheila had a gift for friendship and will be dearly missed by her many friends.

Sheila is survived by her children, Mhairi Paget, of Barre,Vt.; Rona Kinsley and her husband, Brent, of Irasburg, Vt.; Morag MacDonald and her husband, Rick, of Bloomfield, Conn.; and Colin Paget and his wife, Karen, of Ipswich, Mass.; her grandchildren, Jesse Anderson and his wife, Erica Ko, of Thetford, Vt.; Schuyler Anderson and his wife, Erin, of Crestone, Colo.; Kyle MacDonald and his partner, Ellika Healy, of San Francisco, Calif.; Kaitlin MacDonald and her partner, Casey Osburn, of Rochester, N.Y.; Viktoria Paget and Theodore Paget, of Ipswich, Mass.; her great-grandchildren, Odin and Angus Anderson; and her much-loved god-daughter, Kirsty Butler, of Leeds, England. She felt enriched by all their lives and welcomed the growth they brought her. It will be for one of more of them to take her ashes back to Scotland for committal to a family grave by the North Sea.