Portland – Sherma Nancy (Spires) Summers passed away at Seaside Rehabilitation Center on December 26, 2017. She had Parkinson’s disease.
Sherma was born in Portland in 1940. She earned an associate degree at Westbrook College in Maine in her early 20s and then moved to Boston to start her career, where she met her future husband, Robert A. Summers, when they both worked at the Institute for Naval Studies. Sherma was a secretary and Robert was an engineer and the technical manager of the Starlight Program, assessing the impact of satellite technology on the future Navy.
They later moved to Washington, DC, and eventually settled in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of DC. They lived in the DC area for more than 40 years, where Robert had a long career with the federal government. Sherma paused her career when her three children were young, but when they were older, Sherma returned to work at Garvey Associates, Inc, a medical consulting business in Potomac, MD, where she was an office manager for about ten years. During that time, she also obtained her BA degree from American University at the age of 50, with a focus on women’s studies and gerontology.
Sherma was an avid reader who went to the library weekly. She also had a great appreciation for the arts, music and public broadcasting. As her children were growing up, she frequently took them to see the many cultural treasures that DC has to offer, from the Smithsonian art museums, to ballets at the Kennedy Center, art classes at Glen Echo Park and live performances at Wolftrap Center for the Arts. Her two daughters later went on to earn Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in college, while her son and oldest grandson inherited Robert’s science-loving genes and obtained their college degrees in scientific fields.
Sherma and Bob had friends from all over the world due to his career in the federal government's Senior Executive Service and her warm personality. They attended a number of embassy events in DC. All who knew Sherma remember her as a generous and giving person who went out of her way to welcome others, and never had an unkind word to say about anyone. She frequently welcomed guests in her home. She was a volunteer for the PTA and local hospitals.
After retiring, Sherma and Bob moved back to Portland in 2011 to be near their son and his family, and her sisters and brother. They had their 50th wedding anniversary party at First Congregational church in South Portland in May 2014. It was the same church where they were married in 1964.
Sherma was pre-deceased by her parents, Sherma (Steed) Spires and Lawrence Spires, and a sister, Joanne Spires. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Dr. Robert Allan Summers of Portland, her daughter Kathleen Summers and son-in-law Karl “Lee” Hanewinckel of Germantown, Maryland, her daughter Suzanne Summers LaPierre and son-in-law David LaPierre of Annandale, Virginia, and her son Bob L. Summers of Portland, as well as three loving grandchildren, Carter Hanewinckel, Nathan LaPierre and Sidonia Summers, and Sidonia’s mother, Andrea Summers. She also leaves a brother, Larry Spires of Windham and his wife Saralyn, as well as two sisters, Anita Turner of Gray and Susan Scamman of Standish and her husband David, as well as many nieces and nephews and other family members.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
Online condolence messages can be submitted at the Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service website, www.mainefuneral.com
Memorial donations can be made to:
Hospice of Southern Maine
180 U.S. Rt 1
Scarborough, ME 04074