Mae Schmidle, 92, whom many called the “spirit of Newtown,” passed away at her home on Friday, April 26, surrounded by family and friends. A familiar figure around Newtown who always dressed in red, she was as dynamic as she was diligent in her enthusiastic efforts to the causes she espoused.

Born in Bridgeport, June 8, 1926, she married her husband, Robert, and lived briefly in Trumbull before moving to Newtown in the early 1960s. Together, they raised two sons, Robert, Jr, and Paul, and a daughter, Lisa.

But it was Mae’s social and political activities that read like bullet points of accomplishment. After serving with the Newtown PTA (and later as president of the Connecticut State PTA), she was elected to the first of her four terms as Town Clerk. In 1981, she was elected State Representative for the 106th Assembly District, in which she served five terms.

From her years in the assembly, she will be remembered for her advocacy on behalf of the historic flagpole, first erected in 1876 for the centennial celebration of the nation’s independence. When the state sought to remove it, she fought tenaciously and successfully for it to remain.

As representative, she also initiated the Aquifer Protection Act, guaranteeing the protection of the town’s ground water. She served as president of the state’s Northeast Dairy Compact and the National Resource Council, among others.

From preschoolers, for whom she guided the Children’s Adventure Center, to senior citizens, in her championing of the Newtown Visiting Nurse Association, her legacy of love for Newtown and its people will be everlasting.

Indeed, throughout her long and fruitful life, she had much love to give — first, to her husband, Robert; her son Robert, Jr, and his wife, Pamela; her son Paul and his wife, Wendy; her daughter, Lisa, and her husband, Rob Keller. It included also their children and in-laws, Nicholas and his wife, Rikki; Christian and his wife, Jen; Heather and her fiancé, Chris; and Hillary Schmidle and Baxter and Clayton Keller; in addition to four great-grandsons, Oscar and Bohan and Charlie and Theo. Finally, it continues to touch her legion of friends, neighbors, and thousands of Newtowners whose lives she will enrich for years to come.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St Rose of Lima Church, 46 Church Hill Road, Newtown, Tuesday, April 30, at noon. Interment will follow in Newtown Village Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown, Monday, April 29, from 4 to 7 pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Newtown Visiting Nurse Association, 45 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470 will be appreciated.