OBITUARY
Magnhild Christine Winter, 98, of West Bath died comfortably Thursday
April 5, 2007 at the Winship Green Nursing Home in Bath, Maine.
Magnhild is a feminine version of the name Magnus.
She was born in Sandviken, Sweden on 30 September 1908. Her mother, Beda Christina Sorblom, died in childbirth. She was brought up by loving grandparents while her father, Carl Magnus Sorblom, sought his fortune in America.
She
was sent for, and, when she was 12, arrived by ship at Ellis Island in New York
City speaking no English. She grew
up at her father and stepmother's farm in Princeton, Mass. attending to the many
usual farm chores. She graduated
from Princeton High School in 1927 and thereafter attended Worcester City
Hospital Nursing School in Worcester, Mass. with money provided by her Swedish
grandfather in his will. She
graduated in 1930 and began her nursing career.
She became a naturalized citizen in 1931.
She married a long-time family acquaintance and sweetheart, Arthur B.
Winter, in 1934 and lived in Southbridge, Mass., Brattleboro, Vt., and Concord,
Mass. Once her husband retired,
they tried living on Cape Cod for one year, but the sand and traffic were too
much so they moved to Paxton, Mass., the general locale of their youth. As it became more difficult for them to care for their home,
they moved in with their son at Foster's Point, West Bath, Maine. Her husband (a
musician, writer, accountant, and story-teller extraordinaire) died in
1989.
She was an excellent cook and made superlative Swedish Coffee Bread (her recipe was spread by friends so that it is used around the globe including curiously enough the Fiji Islands – see www.greatmaine.com/recipes). She had a very green thumb and raised many dogs. She particularly enjoyed living by the ocean, watching the constant show of water, birds, and weather.
Most importantly she brightened the days of many people.
She thanks her friends for their shared times.
She apologizes to those at the Nursing Home that she pinched or maimed.
She leaves a son, Steven Winter of West Bath, Maine.
There will be no service.
Burial will be at the New Swedish (All Faiths) Cemetery in Worcester,
Mass so that she will be next to her husband and be able to play cards with her
many nearby friends that predeceased her.