Sandra Slate

Sandra D. Slate, 66, went home to God on the evening of March 17, 2025, after living with dementia for many years. She was born on December 26, 1958, in Fontana, California.

Sandra grew up in Patten, Maine, with her parents, Lawrence and Roberta Palmer. She spent most of her life taking care of others. After earning her college degree while working and raising three children, she touched countless students' lives as a teacher and tutor. She helped provide safe spaces for kids to play as the Director of Youth and Family Services at the Bangor YMCA. She also founded a mentoring program for juvenile offenders, and helped create Bangor's incredible children's museum.

While raising her kids she lived all over Maine, from Island Falls to Augusta. Later, she traveled all over the country, first in an 18-wheeler, then in a sailboat, and then in an RV, with her partner, Hank Nelson. Sandra had a warm, genuine smile that made others instantly comfortable. She loved nature and adventure, hawks and wolves, coffee and caramels, lighthouses and sunsets, and all the people she met and helped along her way.

Sandra is survived by her mother, Roberta Palmer; daughter, Tasha Khan and her husband, Sajjad; sons, Kent Smallwood and his wife, Jessica, and Paul Nichols and his wife, Candance; grandchildren Gracie, Kolton, Amaan, Aila, Brianna, Nolan, Silas and Jude; lifelong friend, Amy Lorigan; siblings, Larry Palmer, Scott Palmer, and Maria Webb; many nieces and nephews; and her sisters in California. She was predeceased by her father, Lawrence Palmer.

Relatives and friends are welcome to call from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor, where a funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 23rd, with Pastor Jerry Mick officiating. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments at the Family Reception Center of Brookings-Smith, 163 Center St. in Bangor, following the funeral service.

Those who wish to remember Sandra may make gifts in her memory to the Alzheimer's Association: 383 US-1 #2C, Scarborough, ME 04074