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Sister June Carpenter, Oldest of America's Last Shakers, Dies at 88

30h

Summary

  • Sister June Carpenter, a librarian and the oldest of America's last three Shakers, died on Nov. 3, 2026, at 88.
  • Two Shakers now remain at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine: Brother Arnold Hadd, 70, and Sister April Baxter, who joined in 2025.
  • The Shakers are a Christian community of celibate pacifists who came to North America from England in 1774; the Sabbathday Lake community, founded in 1783, outlasted all other American Shaker communities.
  • Carpenter, born in Boston in 1938, worked as a librarian in Brookline before visiting the village in 1988 and joining after volunteering to catalog its archive.
  • The village remains open to the public and draws would-be novices, supported by paid workers, volunteers, and sales of herbs, crafts, and other goods.
  • Shakers are buried without individual markers; the community cemetery has a single gravestone reading 'Shakers.'

Reactions

  • Her community announced her death in a social media post, saying she had struggled with health and mobility issues.
  • The remaining Shakers are irritated by 'last Shaker' headlines and often politely decline media inquiries about their dwindling numbers.
  • Sister June said in a 2009 book, 'I am the last and the least of the community at the moment, and I'm very happy in that position.'
  • Jere DeWaters, who photographed the village for eight years, recalled Sister June as shy but with a wonderful smile, saying she was 'one of the quiet ones.'
  • Head curator David Richards said after interviewing her, 'If the meek are to inherit the earth, she will get the whole thing!'

Timeline newest first

  1. After a 2006 story headlined 'The Last Man Standing,' Brother Wayne Smith of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village fell in love with the reporter and left the community.

Sources newest first

  • Sister June Carpenter, the Oldest Shaker, Has Diednytimes.com· 30h

    Penelope Green's obituary for the New York Times reports that Sister June Carpenter, a librarian and the oldest of America's last three Shakers, died on Nov. 3, 2026, at 88, leaving two members at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine. It traces her path from Brookline to the community she joined in 1988, her quiet humor, and the remaining Shakers' irritation at "last Shaker" headlines.