Common good drives two women

Ask Kay Lebowitz what inspired her life of public service and she might tell you about her idealistic aunt who managed to make a hospital grow out of a long-ago train wreck.

In Jane Saxl’s case, it was the desire to express her deep gratitude to those neighbors whose generosity and compassion helped her family get through a time of personal loss.

Regardless of what moved them to action, or the opposing political affiliations each took with her to the Maine House of Representatives, the two Bangor women have long shared a common sense of commitment to making life better for the people of their community and their state.

They both will be honored at a public celebration in Bangor on Oct. 28. Bangor native Gov. John Baldacci, along with several state and local leaders, as well as appreciative friends and neighbors, will be on hand to recognize the women for their decades of public service and their many contributions to the common good.

“The two of them have such an impressive record of service to the community, and people in the Bangor region have never had the opportunity before to thank them for all they’ve done,” said Irv Marsters of Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility, which is sponsoring the celebration with the city of Bangor, the Bangor Region Chamber of the Commerce, and the Keep Bangor Beautiful organization. “They really are wonderful and deserving role models.”

Lebowitz, who was born in Winchester, Mass., said her civic spirit has its roots in a farm in Searsport, where her family moved when she was 7. Her parents, who kept dairy cows and a large farm garden, always shared the family’s vegetables with neighbors down on their luck. But it was her mother’s older sister, a resident of New Rochelle, N.Y., who made Lebowitz understand what ordinary people can accomplish when they dedicate themselves to a goal. After a train collision in the town, the injured had to be transported a long distance because there was no hospital nearby. So Lebowitz’s aunt, a teenager at the time, decided to help build one. She borrowed the family horse and buggy and went door to door on an extraordinarily ambitious fund-raising campaign.

“They eventually had their hospital,” Lebowitz said recently. “And when it celebrated its 100th anniversary a few years back, my aunt was remembered for her part in getting it built. So, yes, I did have good role models early in life.”

Lebowitz worked at the Navy supply pier in Portland during World War II, and eventually moved back to Searsport to help her father care for her ailing mother. In 1960, she became deputy clerk at the U.S. District Court in Bangor and worked there until her retirement in 1979.

“I could have stayed home then with my feet up, reading the paper in my bathrobe, but I decided that wasn’t for me,” she said. “That’s when I started volunteering and working in public service.”

Lebowitz was on the Bangor City Council for two years while working on several local boards and commissions. In 1982, she was elected as a Republican representative to the Maine House, where she served for 10 years before becoming disillusioned with its increasingly bitter partisan atmosphere.

“By then I had gotten some bills passed that helped my community, and I took great satisfaction in doing what I could for people,” Lebowitz said. “Besides, 10 years was long enough for anyone. It was time for fresh blood and fresh ideas.”

Saxl, a New York City native, arrived in Bangor in 1974 when her husband, Joseph, was hired as superintendent of the Bangor Mental Health Institute.

While her husband joined the city in a difficult though successful battle to keep the hospital open – then-Gov. James Longley wanted to shut it down – Saxl was busy raising four children and acting as president of the League of Women Voters, first for the local chapter and later at the state level. In 1981, she became one of the founders of the Beth El Synagogue in Bangor.

When Saxl’s husband died that year, the support her family received from the community was so comforting that she vowed to return the favor by working on behalf of the people in the Greater Bangor area.

“That experience certainly was an impetus for my public life,” said Saxl, whose son, Michael, served until recently as Maine’s Speaker of the House. “So many people had reached out to help us and get us through that difficult time that I thought the only thing to do was to give something back.”

From the Bangor School Board, Saxl moved on to the City Council, where she served from 1987 to 1993 and led the campaign that made Bangor the first city in Maine with curbside pickup of recyclables. In 1993, she was elected as a Democratic representative from House District 120.

“There was a crying need in Bangor at the time, with the state mandating us to do this and do that when the city didn’t have the money to meet all the demands.” said Saxl.

After eight years in the House, and prohibited by term limits from running for another term, Saxl wrapped up her legislative career in 2001 with an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Maine Senate.

Looking back on her years in Augusta, Saxl said she takes the most satisfaction in having shepherded through the Patient Bill of Rights as head of the banking and insurance committee and for creating a consumer division of the Bureau of Insurance.

Both women have scaled back their active public lives of late – each now serves on only a few boards while channeling what remains of their considerable energies into volunteer work, health advocacy and local political campaigns. Reflecting on their decades of public service, the women are quick to point out that they got back at least as much as they gave.

“There’s really nothing more rewarding than helping people with their problems,” Saxl said. “It’s like instant gratification at times, and can make you feel like a million bucks. The rewards can be so great that it actually feels quite selfish, in some ways.”

Anyone interested in attending the public reception and dinner, to be held 5-8 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Spectacular Event Center in Bangor, is asked to call 338-8908 for reservations.