BRUNSWICK — Sarah (Sally) H. Trafton of Brunswick, who died Jan. 6, led a professional life of quiet but forceful advocacy and inspired both family and friends with her courage, grace and kindness.

She was born in Lewiston, Aug. 1, 1952, the fifth child of Willis A. Trafton Jr. and Virginia Grier Trafton. She attended Auburn public schools and Concord Academy in Concord, Mass. After Concord, she attended Radcliffe College and then Suffolk University Law School.

While still a law school student, Sally began her life-long role as an advocate by lobbying on behalf of Action for Children’s Television in Boston. In 1978, she moved to Rochester, N.Y., and soon became active as an ombudsman for nursing home patients. She later worked for the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, lobbying both in Albany and Washington, D.C.

Her advocacy and knowledge of community health-related issues led to her recruitment in 1989 by the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She was later appointed to lead the department’s master in public health program and students in that program, particularly those with learning-related disabilities, found her a strong supporter. She eventually was appointed the ombudsman for all Americans with Disability Act matters in the entire medical school.

As a tireless advocate for fair and accessible health care, she served as the vice-chair and as a member of the board of directors of the Rochester Health Commission, Inc., a local group that addressed problems with the Rochester Area Health System. From 1999 to 2004, Sally chaired the Rochester Health Forum, which researched and planned for the future of the Rochester region’s health care system.

She left the medical school in 2006 to become assistant executive director of the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, a regional health system planning organization. She also served on the board of directors for a number of health care related organizations in the Rochester area. In 2009, Sally and her husband moved to Brunswick, where she continued her work as a consultant to the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency.

Sally loved the outdoors and was a camper and counselor at Wyonegonic Camp in Denmark. During her childhood, Sally joined her brothers and sisters in weekend outings to the family camp in Jackson, N.H., where she skied the alpine trails of Wildcat Mountain and the cross-country trails around Tin Mountain. Sally was an avid runner and completed the Casco Bay Marathon and the Boston Marathon as well as numerous 10K races. She loved hiking, especially in the White Mountains and on the granite peaks of Acadia National Park.

Sally was particularly fond of her summer days on Mt. Desert Island, which were filled with family and friends, blueberry picking, lobster dinners, walks on carriage trails and grand views of eagles and osprey over Somes Harbor. After her move to Maine, Sally enjoyed daily walks with her English Setter, Tyler, on the conservation lands of the Brunswick Town Commons.

Sally is survived by her husband, Kevin D. Hart of Brunswick; her daughter, Megan Trafton Campbell of Ulsan, South Korea and Brunswick; her four sisters, Susan and Lowell Edmunds of Highland Park, N.J., Rebecca Trafton of Washington, D.C., Barbara Trafton and Bruce Beall of Bainbridge, Wash., and Frances and Ankie Barnes of Washington, D.C.; her four brothers, Peter and Frances Trafton of Providence, R.I., Jotham and Adelaide Trafton of Topsham, Richard and Barbara Trafton of Auburn and John and Sherrye Trafton of Brunswick; her aunts, Mary Trafton Simonds of Lexington, Mass., and Frances Grier Gebhard of Gainsville, Ga.; 22 nieces and nephews; and seven grandnieces and nephews.