Leslie Matthews and Sandy Hyde were longtime Vermont residents who wholeheartedly embraced the culture and environment of New England. Together for over 40 years, they hiked all the 4,000-footers of New England and most of Colorado’s 14,000-footers. Leslie knew Vermont lakes and ponds intimately through her work with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, and Sandy mentored students as a physics professor at Norwich University and later served as chair of the department until his retirement in 2019.
Leslie’s love for farming and the outdoors started on a dairy farm. She earned her BS and MS in plant sciences from the University of New Hampshire, then focused on molecular biology, completing her PhD under Nobel laureate George Smith at the University of Missouri. Throughout those academic years, she was a fierce athlete, earning a black belt in tae kwon do and competing in triathlons and international bike races, yet always coming home to her gardens and chickens. At the age of 50, Leslie returned to a passion from her teenage years and became a competitive figure skater with the Champlain Valley Skating Club. Leslie lived a life of service and volunteered with the Vermont Workers’ Center, supported the Progressive Party, and served on the Vermont State Employees’ Association board of directors and the Northfield Conservation Commission. She was an ardent supporter of the VWC’s “Health Care Is a Human Right” campaign.
Sandy was a lover of animals and the outdoors and a generous supporter of friends and the community. Born and raised in Ohio, he received his BS from the College of Wooster, served a year in Vietnam after graduation, and upon return, earned his PhD in physics from the University of Wisconsin. He was a skillful carpenter and cheerful volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and the Calais, Vt., Town Hall renovation project. He also volunteered with the Vermont Foodbank and the monthly Veggie Van Go. He was known to check in with elders and neighbors to lend a hand, lend an ear, share some garden veggies and a beverage, and be a friend.
Leslie and Sandy met while hiking Mount Monadnock in the 1980s. As true life partners, they stood by each other even when careers pulled them in different directions. Their shared passion for civil rights, environmental causes and local involvement kept them engaged and enraged. They both died of natural causes at home, within hours of each other, on May 7, 2026. Those who knew them well were not surprised at this unusual epilogue to their amazing lives. In many ways, it seems a gift. They had good lives, they did their best with their time here on Earth and they left together.
Friends and family would like to thank Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice and Hands at Home Care Services for their professional support during Leslie and Sandy’s last weeks of life. There will be a celebration of their lives on Sunday, August 9, 2026, 2 p.m., at the Maple Corner Community Center in Calais, Vt. All are welcome. Contributions in their names can be made to the Vermont Workers’ Center and Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity.
This article appears in Animal Issue • 2026.