Ellie Saunders dedicated her life to the city of Westbrook.

She wasn’t an elected official, although she was married to one.

Ellie Saunders, who was 94 when she died in 2014, donated dozens of scrapbooks to the Westbrook Historical Society, which she helped found. Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

Ellie Saunders donated Conant Burial Grounds to the city of Westbrook just before her death in November 2014. She is buried there near her ancestors, the city's first settlers. Contributed photo

She didn’t work in a municipal department, although she regularly brought her homemade lemon bars to the people who did.

A descendant of the city’s first settlers and a lifelong resident, Saunders left her mark in other ways all over Westbrook, from the historical society she helped found to the public rose garden she started to her letters to the editor in the local paper. And she’s still making an impression after her death.

Saunders died in November 2014 at the age of 94. Her husband, a former Westbrook mayor and chairman of the city’s Saunder Bros. dowel mill, had died 20 years earlier. They had no children.

Westbrook, you could say, was her baby.

Fittingly, she left $110,000 to the city in her will – $44,000 to the public services department and $22,000 each to the police department, fire department and library. The size of her overall estate is unclear.

The gift was presented to the Westbrook City Council last week. Now the different departments have to figure out how to make the best use of the money while honoring the woman who left it to them.

Saunders did specify for public services to use the money to maintain two properties in the city: the Whitney Rose Garden, which she started at the end of her street where Route 25 turns toward Gorham, and the Conant Burial Grounds, which she donated to the city just before her death. She now lies there beside her ancestors, including Samuel and Joseph Conant, the first permanent settlers of Saccarappa, which later became Westbrook.

‘SHE WAS FROM THE OLD SCHOOL’

How Saunders’ other bequests will be used is still being determined.

Police Chief Janine Roberts said she has thought about using her department’s share for community policing programs or equipment. Fire Chief Andrew Turcotte said he hopes to have a plan in place in the next week.

Rebecca Albert, director of the Walker Memorial Library, said she will discuss use of the money with the library’s trustees and Board of Regents this month.

“There are a multitude of ways that the bequest can benefit the library, and we want to be thoughtful about how to best use the bequest to honor Ellie Saunders,” Albert said.

Saunders was born Eleanor Conant in a house in the Christian Hill area off Bridge Street, then moved down the road into an apartment above what’s now Severino’s Variety, living there until she was 10, said her friend Suzan Norton. That’s when her family of five moved into the 18th-century homestead on Conant Street where her ancestors originally settled. Saunders never left.

The middle of three girls, she was a sickly child, Norton said. She believes Saunders had asthma and allergies that dictated her diet for the rest of her life. She also claimed to be affected by electronics. She wouldn’t be around cellphones, keeping her from leaving the house much later in life, and didn’t own a television or a radio.

But her home was full of other things.

“Walking through her house, it was hard to stay focused talking to her. You just wanted to look at everything,” said Lynda Adams, the former city clerk.

A fixture at yard sales, Saunders had tons of antiques, collected pewter and had glassware on display.

“‘Everything’s old, including me,’ she said,” recalled Mike Sanphy, president of the Westbrook Historical Society.

She was always on the lookout for items that other people could use. It was no wonder the number of greeting cards that would come in the mail for her on holidays, said Norton.

She’d also buy anything related to the history of Westbrook.

Saunders’ friends described her as thoughtful and gracious, but also strong-willed and not afraid to speak her mind.

Visiting her was a throwback, said Diane Dyer, another friend from the historical society. She remembers the cloth napkins and pot of tea put out for lunch at her house.

“She was from the old school,” Dyer said.

A WEALTH OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE

Then there were the scrapbooks – 212 of them, to be exact. Separated into categories, like “mayors” and “military,” the books of pictures and newspaper clippings now fill shelves in the historical society marked with a plaque as the “Eleanor Conant Saunders Collection.”

She kept a record of everything that happened in the city and knew nearly everything that had happened in the past.

A founding member and later president of the historical society, Saunders had a wealth of knowledge, which came in handy when the city got ready to mark its 200th birthday.

In fact, if she hadn’t called Adams, the former clerk, to let her know the anniversary was coming up, there might not have been such a big celebration. She also made the city aware of the time capsule buried 100 years earlier in Riverbank Park. A plaque with instructions to unearth the box on June 9, 2014, had been obscured by surrounding landscaping, but Saunders knew it was there.

As Adams planned the celebration, she relied on Saunders to answer any questions she had about the city and its history. Adams made sure that Saunders, in turn, was honored at the kickoff celebration. She was recognized again six months later at the burying of a new time capsule, but that time, she was being remembered. Saunders had died just weeks before.

Norton misses her stories. Adams remembers her for her strength and independence. Sanphy said she was willing to do anything for her hometown. It was no surprise to any of them that she left money to the city.

“She always had Westbrook in her heart,” Sanphy said.

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