Lebanon, NH – Sally Royal McFarlin, 88, died on Saturday, December 20, 2025, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She was born in Boston, MA on January 25, 1937, to parents Vernon and Dorothy (Joslin) McFarlin. She graduated from Dedham High School in 1955 and from Westbrook College in Portland, ME. She began her career as an administrative assistant at Harvard University, but soon moved westward, working at the University of Nevada, UCLA, and St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. During her time in California, she served in the Navy reserves for five years. She eventually moved back to Maine to help her parents and then to the Upper Valley in 2009 to help her brother Malcolm.
Sally enjoyed entertaining friends and family, always with the backdrop of an excellent meal that she’d prepared and a game of scrabble. She had a love of blues music and was honored when Dave Keller dedicated a song to her at his performances. She was a constant advocate for social justice, a dedicated member of St. Paul’s, the Upper Valley Interfaith Project, Lebanon Opera House, and the Aging Resource Center.
She is survived by two sisters Katherine McCullough and husband Kelsey of Oceanside, CA and Susan Wheeler of Hampstead, NH; many nieces and nephews, other relatives, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents and two siblings, Malcolm McFarlin and Ann Milano.
A service will be held in the spring of 2026 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in White River Junction, VT. Knight Funeral Home of White River Junction has been entrusted with arrangements and online condolences may be shared in an online guestbook at www.knightfuneralhomes.com.
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