Robin Taylor Neal

1957 – 2018

GREENE – Robin Taylor Neal, 61, of Greene, passed away at Central Maine Medical Center, in Lewiston, on Monday, October 29, 2018 from congestive heart failure.

Born in Sandusky, Ohio, July 6, 1957, to Joseph M. and JoAnn H. Taylor, Robin was raised in Milan, Ohio and graduated from Edison High School in 1975. She attended The Ohio State University and earned degrees in sociology and social studies education, graduating in 1979. It was there that she met her future husband, John Neal. After graduation she joined him, in Maine, and they were married in 1980. Robin worked first, as a counselor, at the Aroostook Mental Health Center, in Limestone, and then as a high school social studies teacher at Van Buren District Secondary School.

In 1983 the Neals moved to Storrs, Conn., where Robin received a Master’s degree in human development and family therapy in 1985, from the University of Connecticut. Returning to Maine, she worked first, as a counselor for Johnson Associates, and then opened her own practice in marriage therapy, culminating in her founding of the Couples Conference and Counseling Center, in Auburn. She took great joy in supporting healthy relationships, and deeply valued the trust which her clients placed in her over the years. She was a member of Maine Family Therapy Association and served in several leadership roles in that organization, over the years.

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Robin was a very capable canoeist and took many family canoe camping trips around Maine, including the Fish River Chain, the West Branch of the Penobscot, and three trips down the Allagash, among many others. One of her favorite paddling destinations, however, was Center Bridge on the Androscoggin River in Turner. In more recent years, she obtained her motorcycle license and rode her Honda scooter all over Maine, the northeast, and Atlantic Canada, taking multi-day trips to Montpelier, Vt., Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, including the famed Cabot Trail. She had completed the first leg of the “Four Corners of Maine” tour, just three weeks ago.

In the past two years she took up golf and enjoyed the game at Springbrook Golf Club, in Leeds, where she greatly valued the friendships she made in the ladies’ league. She was a dedicated violist and loved to play music of the Baroque composers. One of her greatest joys was her grandchildren, Jaxon and Layla, and she delighted in spending time with them.

She was predeceased by her father in 2017.

She is survived by her devoted husband, John Neal, of Greene; daughter, Leslie Mersch and son-in-law, Michael Mersch, of Milford, Ohio, and daughter, Allison Neal and partner, Miguel Elmore, of Greene; her mother, JoAnn Taylor, of Leesburg, Fla.; her mother-in-law, Joan Neal, of Auburn; two sisters, Vicki Taylor and her husband, Mark Hooker, of Niskayuna, N.Y., and Kelly Monroe and her husband, John Guseman, of Leesburg, Fla., brother, Joseph Taylor and his wife, Sandy, of Huron, Ohio, brother–in-law, Peter Neal and his wife, Dara, of Minot; grandson, Jaxon Neal, of Greene, and granddaughter, Layla Robin Mersch, of Milford, Ohio; nieces, Madison and Prim, and nephews, Jonathan and Mark; aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends.

The family would like to express our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to the staff at CMMC cardiac ICU for the outstanding compassionate care which we received.

You are invited to offer condolences and pay tribute to Robin’s life by visiting her guest book at www.thefortingroupauburn.com

Visitation will be held at the Fortin Group, Auburn, on Friday, November 2 from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., and a celebration of Robin’s life will be held on Saturday, November 3, at 11 a.m., also at the funeral home.

Arrangements are under the care of The Fortin Group/Plummer & Merrill Funeral Home, Cremation & Monument Services 217 Turner St. Auburn, ME 04210.

Those wishing to make memorial donations, in her memory, may do so to The Maine Arts Academy 8 Goldenrod #100 Sidney, ME 04330


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