Sandra Gail Oughton

In Lincoln, on February 28, 2025, Sandra Gail Oughton died at 81. Born October 26, 1943 in Lincoln, carrying Swedish-American stories that arrived without footnotes. Early on, she decided that a paycheck and a handshake should weigh the same. She oiled gates that argued with river and schedules. A lock gate oil rag on a hook outlasted two captains. Colleagues still mention a lock gate oil rag on a hook. She married Frank in 1968. They kept a house that stayed modest when the neighborhood did not. They raised three children through public schools and ordinary weather. After Frank died in 2018, she kept the routines that still made sense: the walk, the garden, the Sunday call. Neighbors remember the radio low on a Saturday while repairs got done. She preferred the hour before a town fully wakes. Lincoln was home enough that she never rehearsed an introduction. The radio is still tuned to the station that played while work got done.