Roger W. Addor

Roger W. Addor
1926-2025
SCARBOROUGH - Roger W. Addor passed away at the age of 98 on February 2, 2025, at his Piper Shores residence in Scarborough, ME. Born to Oscar and Maude Addor in New Rochelle, NY on April 30, 1926, he was raised in Poughkeepsie, NY. Despite the struggles of the Great Depression, good times were had with the extended family in Larchmont and New Rochelle, plus foraging apples, skating on a nearby cattail pond, and other adventures with his beloved sister Alice. He credited a high school English teacher for his introduction to a life-long love of classical music, though he also appreciated big band, musicals and anything tuneful he could sing around the house.
In high school Roger enjoyed science and was particularly taken with chemistry. Having read some of Maine author Kenneth Roberts' books and knowing a teacher who had gone to the University of Maine, he set his sights on going there to study chemistry and worked for a year to save money to attend. He had never been farther from home than New York City when his parents took him the 450 miles to Orono in the fall of 1945. At the first freshman mixer, the 5' 9" Frances Jane (Sasshy) Foster from South Portland spotted the 6' 7" Roger "across the crowded room," and thus began the love story that lasted all their lives. Another adventure during the undergraduate years saw Roger and others from the Orono campus trucked to Bar Harbor to help fight the great fire there in 1947. He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and remained at Orono for a Master's degree in chemistry, while Sasshy taught in a high school in North New Portland. Roger's 1929 Model A Ford made a lot of trips between the two.
Roger and Sasshy were married in the old Spurwink Church in Cape Elizabeth on August 26, 1950, and set out for The Ohio State University in Columbus, where Roger pursued his PhD in chemistry, and Sassh worked in the university library system.
In 1954, Roger began work at the central research laboratory of the American Cyanamid Company in Stamford, CT, in the industrial chemistry area. In 1957 he transferred to the agricultural research division. During this period the young couple bought their first house in Westport, CT for $6,000, and brought home their daughter, Jane in 1958, and son Thomas in 1961. A rather wayward beagle named Chester rounded out the family. Also in 1961, American Cyanamid established a new agricultural research facility in Princeton, NJ so the family settled outside the small town of Pennington, NJ in rural Hopewell Township.
Roger was by now a group leader of a team of chemists who worked on developing pesticides and insecticides that were effective in protecting farmers' crops but with lower toxicity and more friendly environmental applications than most materials in use at the time. He has several patents in his name. He and four neighbors, also Cyanamid employees, established a daily carpool for the 25-mile round trip to the research center. By the time they retired 30 years later, they calculated that each had saved about 150,000 miles of driving, as well as nurturing deep friendships amongst them all.
Roger and Sassh also enjoyed an active community life centered around the Pennington Presbyterian Church. Returning to Maine for holidays was a joy for the whole family, including some time at various lakes but mostly returning time and again to Higgins Beach, a special place for Sassh throughout her days growing up on nearby Adelbert Street in South Portland. With retirement, a move was made to Scarborough to better share life with family including four delightful granddaughters. They volunteered at the Long Creek Youth Center and Maine Audubon, and the food pantry run by their new church home, the First Congregational Church of South Portland. Roger was also for a time a docent at the Victoria Mansion in Portland.
Over the years, Roger and Sassh also enjoyed travelling to England, Scotland, France, Switzerland and the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, where daughter Jane and her family resided for a time. Trips to the American West and Northwest with friends were also a delight. They moved to the Piper Shores lifecare community in Scarborough in 2007. In retirement, Roger applied his scientist's approach to becoming an excellent all-around cook: first read the recipe, then experiment a bit. His pies, bread and salmon on the grill were justifiably famous. He and Sassh enjoyed Portland Symphony concerts, long walks, bridge with friends, skiing, and hosting the granddaughters for good times whatever the season.
Always foremost in mind was love of family and sharing time, space, and happenings with each special member. Roger, with the help of Piper Shores, devotedly cared for Frances Jane in the last years of her life; she predeceased Roger in October 2021 after 71 years of marriage. Roger is survived by daughter Jane and husband Martin Marris of Wye, England; son Thomas Addor and Caitlin Gabelmann of Whiting, ME; daughter-in-law Kelly Addor of South Portland; granddaughters Heather and husband Reuben Maltsberger of Austin, TX, Caroline Marris and husband Daniel Kanhofer of East Windsor, NJ, Catherine Marris and husband Jarrod Chan of London, England, and Hannah and husband Cameron Burrows of
South Portland; and great-grandchildren Emory, Maren, and twins Elizabeth and Henry. He is also survived by his sister and brothers, Dorothy Chenevert of Hyde Park, NY, Oscar Addor of Pleasant Valley, NY, and David Addor of Denver, CO. The family will celebrate Roger's life with a service during the summer.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Friends of Long Creek Youth Development Center 675 Westbrook Street, South Portland, Maine 04106 and Scarborough Land Trust PO Box 1237 Scarborough, Maine 04070.