LINCOLN – Sheila Tenggren was one of those newspaper people who never hesitated to let you know where she stood or where you were, either.

That’s why local leaders uniformly expressed sadness Monday at news of the Lincoln News editor and publisher’s death Friday at age 66 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

They described Tenggren as a forthright and yet endearing professional who added vigor to the weekly newspaper’s voice for more than 20 years.

“She had very strong opinions, and she and I discussed those and many times we did not always agree on those but we remained friends,” said Lincoln Town Councilor Roderick Carr, who also is a state representative and a former state police officer. “We were in different parties but strangely enough we often agreed with one another, and when I was on the state police she was always there to do stories.”

“She knew exactly what she wanted. She had a tenacity about her when she was looking for the story and the truth,” Howland Volunteer Fire Chief Philip Dawson said. “She’d never leave you hanging about what she was thinking about.

“I never had a bad issue with her, basically,” he added. “I can’t say that I always agreed with her position but you had to respect her for the fact that it was her position and she didn’t mind standing behind it.”

“She was the Lincoln News,” Lincoln Town Councilor Stephen Clay said. “When I thought of the Lincoln News, I thought of Sheila. She always seemed very fair to me.”

Tenggren didn’t fear controversy, said Lincoln Town Councilor James Libby.

He recalled that in the aftermath of a shooting incident on Lee Road near Whitney Energy Co. about 10 years ago involving a boy who was playing with a gun, she printed a somewhat graphic picture of the victim that riled her readers.

“People were upset that it was on the front page, but she was trying to make a point about why we should take care of our guns,” Libby said.

She was described as a very happy, cheerful person who really enjoyed people.

Tenggren was born Aug. 4, 1938. A graduate of South Portland High School, she acquired the Lincoln News, a weekly newspaper and printing business in Lincoln, after the accidental death of G. Daniel Aiken in 1981. She was a past president of the Maine Press Association and a Democrat.

Her activity with the paper was curtailed somewhat by her illness, Libby said, but he recalled that the last time she saw him, at a local store about a month ago, she met him with a smile.

“I was kind of stunned, I was really surprised, at how she looked. She knew that she had startled me and we chatted,” Libby said. “We didn’t talk about the illness. She had her smile on her face and didn’t dwell on her problems.”

Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Clay Funeral Home in Lincoln. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Lincoln cemetery.