Sandy Paton=RIP

Email from Howard Glasser

HTG Archive -- Judy --

Sandy and Carolyn Paton -- (FOLK Legacy Records)
Were - for many years - invited by me to be advisors as well as performers
to the SMU/UMASS Dartmouth Traditional Arts Festival --
Their contribution to our project was huge --
Our Archive should note this loss -- Sandy was a folklorist --
Collector of the finest of the old traditions --
Producer of commercial recordings of these surviving artists --
As well as, producer of recordings of the new generations of, like thinking, artists --
Sandy and Caroline Paton received the Annual Eisteddfod Award
for their encouragement and support of artists continuing aspects of our heritage --
and for their preservation achievements.
Howard Glasser


Subject: RE: Obit: Sandy Paton
From: bbc - PM
Date: 27 Jul 09 - 09:05 AM

Good morning, folks,

We suspected that the news would filter out from Pinewoods first, since
Sandy's granddaughter, Linnea, is working there this summer. Yesterday
marked 40 days since Sandy & Caroline's grandson, Kaelan, drowned. Sandy had
been deeply grieving, since that time. We had all been concerned about him,
but it was unclear how much of his condition was emotional & how much was
physical. Last week, with Kaelan's memorial & the burial of his remains
past, Caroline felt that Sandy needed to see his doctor. I drove the two of
them to the office on Thursday afternoon, July 23rd. Sandy was unusually
fatigued & was having wide variations in his blood oxygen with any activity.
As soon as he saw him, Sandy's doctor called for an ambulance to take his to
nearby Sharon Hospital (Sharon, CT) for observation. Sandy was checked into
a room, after being observed in Emergency, & Caroline was told they'd like
to keep Sandy for a few days. If I am remembering correctly what Caroline
told me, the hospital called Saturday evening & said that Sandy wasn't doing
well & they didn't know if he'd make it through the night. The family was
able to go to the hospital that evening & spend time with Sandy. During the
night, Saturday, he lost consciousness. During the day, on Sunday, family
was in & out. Duane & I visited for a couple of hours in the early afternoon
& said our goodbyes. When we returned for a second visit at about 7 pm, not
wanting Sandy to be alone, his sister-in-law, Linda, gave us the news that
he had passed from this life about a half hour earlier, at 6:32 pm on
Sunday, July 26, 2009. We waited for Caroline to come & stayed with the
family until they left. Sandy died peacefully, with no heroics, just lightly
breathing until he drew his last breath. The cause will probably be listed
as congestive heart failure. My first thought, when I heard that he was
gone, was happiness for him. In recent times, his life had become more &
more of a burden to him. Because of his emphysema, he had to be connected to
oxygen all the time. His movements & activities were limited. Changes in his
voice meant that he was no longer able to sing &, sometimes, even to make
himself easily heard. He was broken-hearted over Kaelan's death. I feel sure
that Sandy was content to leave.

Now, we pick up the pieces of life without him. Caroline has her two sons &
her sister, all of whom live locally. She, also, has Duane & me. Together,
we will be giving personal support & helping to get Folk Legacy onto a new
chapter. Your support is needed. Although I have more that I'd like to say,
I'll end this, for now, to give you the basic information. Since phone is
the only way Caroline can conduct business, I might suggest that you send
condolences by mail, for now, to give us time to get up-to-date on the
backlog of orders, due to Kaelan's death & Sandy's health. As is the family
custom, Sandy's passing will be marked by a memorial gathering at some time
in the future. Sing your songs for him, folks! A great man has passed.


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