THE MAYBETH FANDEL SONN SCHOLARSHIP

The Maybeth Fandel Sonn Scholarship was established in memory of Maybeth Fandel Sonn (1941-2009) to honor her passion for learning and to help students afford to pursue higher education and a life of learning and service to their communities. Each year this Scholarship Fund is awarded to a student from the Concord and Carlisle community who faces economic hurdles to pursuing higher education.

Maybeth was the beloved wife of Edward Sonn, whom she married in 1963. Together they moved to Carlisle in 1974 and lived there for 35 years raising their family. Their children, Kathryn Klickstein of Carlisle, Paul Sonn of Brooklyn, and Eugene Sonn of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, all graduated from Concord-Carlisle High School.

Maybeth was a librarian and a lifelong lover of books and learning known for her generosity towards those around her. A native of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, Maybeth graduated from Emmanuel College with a degree in history and received a Master’s of Library Science from Simmons College. She loved to read, especially to her grandchildren, and worked for many years as a librarian, beginning at the Emmanuel College Library and concluding at Carlisle’s Gleason Library, from which she retired in 1998.

She served as a volunteer reader to seniors, preschoolers and others who could not read for themselves. She could be counted on to show up at the home of a sick neighbor with a meal or invite those without family nearby to join hers for holidays. Whether it was driving elderly parishioners to church, preparing care packages for prisoners at MCI Concord, teaching Sunday school, or volunteering around Carlisle, Maybeth was always doing for others.

Maybeth also cherished flowers and gardening. She studied landscape design and operated a small business planning and tending gardens. She was never happier than when she was with her flowers. The St. Irene Parish gardens in Carlisle, which Maybeth designed and cared for, were later named in her honor.