Remembering Sally Richards

I first met Sally Richards late in the 1980s. She was chair of the Science Committee for the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy at the time. I came to know her much better over the years that followed, especially the years when we served together on the Board of Trustees for the Connecticut Chapter. Like some other giants of the Connecticut Chapter -- Dick Goodwin, Bill Niering -- she was extremely knowledgeable about the natural heritage of Connecticut, extremely passionate about protecting that heritage, and extremely effective at protecting it. I learned late last week that she passed away at the age of 85.

Here's what was written about her in an e-mail I received earlier this week.

BOSTON, BANGOR and GUILFORD, Conn. - Sarah "Sally" Wheatland Richards, marine biologist and long time resident of Guilford, Conn., and wherever her sailboat happened to moor, died Sunday, April 3, 2011, surrounded by her family at home. She was 85. Sally was born in 1925, in Boston, and was raised in Bangor, the second of four children to Stephen and Dorothy Wheatland. Sally earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Vassar College in 1946 and a master's degree in zoology from Stanford University in 1948. She practiced marine biology for the next 50 years, focusing on estuarine fish, shellfish and birds, eventually running the locally renowned "Little Harbor Lab" out of her Guilford, Conn., home. She devoted much of her time to local and regional conservation efforts, including Guilford Land Conservation Trust, of which she was a founding member, Guilford Shellfish Commission, Faulkner's Island Light Brigade, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and Nature Conservancy. From an early age she was a passionate supporter of the Democratic Party and its candidates. Sally and her husband, the late Frederic M. Richards, whom she met while both worked at Yale University in the 1950s, were avid sailors, spending many summers in the high latitudes of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on their boat, Hekla. The couple also crossed the Atlantic via Iceland under sail, and were lifetime members of Cruising Club of America. She was predeceased by her brother, Richard Wheatland II of Boston. She leaves her sisters, Mary Schley of Columbus, Ga., and Alice Wellman of Bangor; her son, George H. Richards of Fairfield, Conn.; two stepdaughters, Sarah O. Richards of Coupeville, Wash., and Ruth Richards of Cabot, Vt.; four grandchildren, many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at First Congregational Church, Guilford, Conn. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Guilford Land Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 200, Guilford, CT 06437 or at www.guilfordlandtrust.org; Faulkner's Island Light Brigade, care of Joseph Nugent, 423 Whitfield St., Guilford, CT 06437; or the CT Challenge, P.O. Box 566, Southport, CT 06890 or at www.ctchallenge.org. In her memorable words that many friends and family heard on their message machines, "Sally out."