Dagney Trevor

The world lost a real firecracker on March 31, 2026. To know Dagney Christine Trevor was to likely have a colorful story about your experience with her. She was a fierce human. She loved deeply and she died on her own terms- peacefully, full of morphine, and surrounded by her beloved caregivers, who made sure she had purple party fingernails before she left on her next adventure. The love of her caregivers in her final days allowed her to head to the next dimension with a full heart. For that, her family will be forever grateful.Dagney was born on Sept. 26, 1939, to John Trevor and Dagney (Frykberg) Trevor. She joined her 4 years-older brother Barry in their home in the Flatbush Ave neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. They were second generation Swedish immigrants. She heartily embraced her NYC accent, and she never really lost it despite not living in New York for much of her life. It was a part of her gangster heritage that she was quite proud of.The family owned a fishing bungalow on Staten Island, long before the bridges from NYC were built. Dagney would be the first one to tell you she was neither a fisherperson nor a sailor and that her greatest contribution to family fishing events was attracting fish by puking off the back of the boat. This may be why she looks so triumphant in the photo, from 1987, that we chose for this life summary. Whatever the backstory to this photo is, we feel it captures Dagney's essence-unpredictable, spontaneous, and full of a zest for adventure. She was a constant source of surprise.The family moved to Staten Island in 1948 where Dagney thrived socially. She was the head cheerleader at Tottenville High School, which made sense given her lifelong tendency to use her voice. While there, she met Ned Finley, the man she would end up marrying, twice. Dagney graduated from Packard Secretarial School in 1957 and moved into the city to work at IBM and live with some of her besties. She eventually returned to Staten Island where she married Ned and had their only child, Careen Alyson Finley, born Sept. 1, 1962. They remained on Staten Island, where Ned built a career as a stock broker, eventually landing a seat on the American Stock Exchange. Ned also had a number of side hustles over the years, most of them illegal. Dagney and Careen fled, in the middle of the night in August 1971, to the ski house in Vermont , when the law caught up to Ned.Dagney, ever the mover and shaker, soon opened a clothing store in Rutland - The Little Big Store-where she sold, amongst other things, used Levis. With foolhardy bravery, she would go to warehouses in Brooklyn to buy the Levis. She had a savvy fashion sense, and brought her New York style to Vermont. She and Ned drifted apart due to his continued fascination with breaking the law and his emerging Peter Pan complex. She took charge of her life as a single mom, developed a very successful business repairing the Levis and reselling them- a concept way ahead of its time. Sadly, the store burned, forcing Dagney to reevaluate her life and figure out what the future held for her and Careen. She sold the ski house in Pico Chalet Village and found community in Bridgewater, amongst the folks at the legendary Bridgewater Tavern. A new chapter had begun. A brief stint in Alaska ended almost as quickly as it started, and she ended up back in Vermont to live happily ever after.Her road was not an easy one, but Dagney eventually found her way to nursing school. She would often say she wished she had begun that career earlier in her life as she felt it was her true calling. That was likely due in large part to all the years she spent taking care of her terminally ill mother. Her mom passed when Dagney had just graduated from high school and the event was both merciful and tragic. The experience shaped Dagney's personality in many ways. It was clear there was a very strong component of caring in who she was, evidenced by her endless love for her animals. She spent years working in the Upper Valley medical community, at the VNA and various care facilities, retiring in 2010-ish to pursue the really important thing - camping in the Keys with her true love, David Harshbarger.The year of 1983 was big for Dagney. She met David Harshbarger and she purchased her house on Silver Lake. It was the oldest house on the lake at the time. She was one of the few full-time residents and, over the years, established herself as the Queen (our words, not hers) of the 'Groovy Grove'. Sitting out on her front porch , the neighbors always knew Dagney's opinions thru the conversations they shared over the decades she lived there. Hers was the first house on the right, with purple trim, and crazy flowers. They were a source of pride and joy for her, always fabulous, always in various shades of purple. We can now reveal that Dagney enjoyed picking her neighbors' flowers, hence the amazing bouquets you could often find at her house in the summer months. It was a good plan, provided decades of beauty, and no one noticed. Thank you neighbors!! The Silver Lake house burned in March 2014 and, sadly, David passed away from cancer not long after. Dagney, being the persistent soul she was , rebuilt the house, and once again, redefined her life. Dagney was a feisty, resilient, determined woman who blazed whatever trail she chose to. She spent the remainder of her days at her sanctuary in The Grove, in the comfy house she was able to rebuild after the house fire.David and Dagney were a remarkably perfect couple, Yin- Yang, which was both charming and confusing. They built a wonderful life around hard work, traveling, kayaking, bird watching, fossil hunting, and being generally happy campers in their various campers. Dagney made the plans and David made sure they happened. The man was a saint and the perfect adventure buddy for Dagney and her dreams. They spent many wonderful years traveling the east coast, with a particular love for camping in Florida. They shared their love of camping with their grandchildren Cavan and Delaney , creating a lasting legacy that provided a foundation for a lifelong love of camping. There were many amazing summers spent at the Cape Cod National Seashore, camping at Maurices's in South Wellfleet and getting up way too early cause Grandma was a drill sergeant who HAD TO HAVE THE BEST PARKING SPOT AT HERRING COVE BEACH. She wasn't wrong and we always had prime real estate thanks to her military standards about such things. The Cape will always be a special place for our family.Over the past few years, Dagney has been surrounded by her beloved group of caregivers, allowing her to stay in her house with her kitties, on her own terms. Sadly, Dagney broke a one hip on Dec. 23, 2025 and the other hip on Jan. 15, 2026. These injuries landed her in a nursing home where eventually, the secondary complications led to her passing. Dagney died the same way she lived- on her own terms . Her final days brought reconciliation and peace for Dagney. Thank you Liz, Denise, LeeAnn , Tarin, and Betsy for making sure that Dagney's final days were some of her best , in a lot of unexpected ways. There is an impressive list of folks who, over the years, have provided Dagney with the highest quality care, creating an environment of fun, safety, and good energy. Her wonderful neighbors were also a source of community that only neighbors can provide.Dagney was one of a kind. She lived her life shamelessly and with admirable conviction. Her color was purple, her favorite sayings often included swears, her humor was raw and intelligent, and she loved bad TV ( 90 Day Fiancé , I am talking about you). She was incredibly generous (unless she was mad at you ). She was wild. She was a wheeler - dealer. She was her own person and didn't give much regard to people who judged her colorful, bohemian, outspoken lifestyle. She loved dark chocolate. She loved her weed. She LOVED her kitties. She loved her family. She loved camping in the Keys. ( She loved vodka and smoking other people's cigarettes too but don't tell the doctors.) She loved expressing her thoughts- rational or not- in her own unique style. A true human firecracker.Dagney was predeceased by her true love, David Harshbarger. Dagney is survived by her daughter, Careen (Finley) Little, her grandchildren Cavan and Delaney Little, her brother Barry (Maddie) Trevor, various nieces and nephews, her beloved kitties Rockie and Girlie, her amazing caregivers, Liz Bettis, Denise Carr, LeeAnn Gregory, Tarin Jones, Betsy and her administrative assistant, Amy Harlow.

Celebration of Dagney's Life

Sept. 26 , 2026 (her birthday)

3pm

Barnard Town Hall, Barnard, Vt.