Sharon Lee Andrews Pulkkinen of East Boothbay, Maine, passed on Sept. 4, 2026 overlooking Linekin Bay at her home in East Boothbay. She was born in Lewiston, Maine, on April 23, 1947, to Kenneth William and Dorothy Louise Annis Andrews. 

She grew up in Auburn, Maine, graduated from Edward Little High School in 1965, and then moved to Boston, Danvers and West Newbury, Massachusetts after marrying Thomas Pulkkinen whom she met at a cold and windy nighttime high school football game in Rumford, Maine, when they both were attending Edward Little. She was really cold, and he gave her – then a stranger – his sweater as they watched the band musicians’ music and hats blow down the field.

For many years her family lived in West Newbury, Massachusetts, where she served the community for many years as the treasurer of the Friends of the GAR Memorial Library. After working in Newburyport for several years, she then worked at the Christian Book Distributers in Peabody, Massachusetts. While there she helped a coworker by serving the National Scleroderma Association.

After she and her husband retired to East Boothbay, she served on the Board of Trustees of the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library and for several years organized and led the very popular Books in Boothbay author events at the Railway Museum. She also volunteered to help people from around the country to research their ancestors through the Find A Grave system. Her travels with her photographer husband took her to cemeteries as far away as down east Lubec and Matinicus Island. Her affection for Matinicus grew after visiting the island with her daughter and sister to explore the place where many of their ancestors lived since the 1700s. She remained an avid supporter of the Matinicus Island library and historical society.

Sharon and her husband had two children. Their daughter Dr. Wendy Pulkkinen Loomis is a research scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle where she lives with her husband Jeffrey. Many at the West Newbury Congregational Church loved hearing Wendy’s beautiful voice as she sang on Sunday mornings and at special events. Their beloved son Mark passed when he was a student in the Pentucket Middle School. His teachers and others long remember him for buying a single red rose from Knapp Florist in West Newbury with his paper route money and giving it to someone for whom he cared deeply. He started this kindness by giving a rose to his mother, and his caring was long continued by Sharon and Tom, who gave roses to friends who were experiencing difficult times and the loss of loved ones.

She was predeceased by her parents and son Mark, and is survived by her husband, Tom, and daughter Wendy, and her husband Jeffrey. She is also survived by her brother Kenneth of Falmouth, Massachusetts, and her sister Ellen Woodward of Monmouth, Maine, and her husband Bill, as well as several precious nieces and nephews, as well as her special “brother” George Pulkkinen.

Memorial donations may be made to the Portland Children’s Dyslexia Center, 1897 Congress St, Portland 04102 (or https://childrensdyslexiacenters.org/donate/ - choose the Portland location) where her husband has served as Chairman of the Board of Governors for several years.

Friends are welcome to join the family for a time of visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 at Hall Funeral Homes, 975 Wiscasset Rd. Boothbay, ME. Second visitation will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12 from 10 a.m. to noon followed by a service at noon to celebrate Sharon’s life at the Boothbay Railway Village, 586 Wiscasset Road, Boothbay, Maine, where she held Books in Boothbay with many Maine authors for several years.