RANGELEY — Fran York is looking forward to turning 100 on Friday, Jan. 17. More than that, she is eagerly anticipating the arrival of extended family and friends from far off places to join her in celebrating her milestone birthday. A century is certainly a milestone worthy of a celebration.
During a series of interviews, Fran recalled a century of memories, her love of Maine, how she ended up in the Rangeley region, time spent at York’s Log Village, and her late husband Sam York.
“It is pretty amazing, even to me, to get to be a hundred,” she said.

Rangeley’s oldest resident, Fran York, reflects on nearly 100 years on Tuesday, Jan. 14. She looks forward to celebrating a century on Friday, Jan. 17. (Dee Menear/Rangeley Highlander)
Fran Sayward was born in New York City on Jan. 17, 1925. She was delivered by her grandfather, a physician at a city hospital.
“That might be a little unusual but I wasn’t asked to register my opinion,” she quipped.
Shortly after her birth, Fran’s family moved 25 miles out of the city and settled in the New Jersey. Except for annual extended summer vacations in the Adirondack Mountains, this suburban home was where she spent most of her younger years.
“Mother loved the Adirondack’s,” Fran said. “It was her place and it was where she wanted to be.”
During one of those summer vacations, Fran and her parents visited her brother who was staying at a nearby overnight camp for boys. On the way back from that visit, tragedy struck.
“We were run into a by drunk driver. Mother was badly hurt in the accident and suffered a fractured skull,” Fran explained.
After her mother recovered, her parents started looking around for a new area to spend their summers. Whether the change in scenery was necessary to put the incident in the past or if it was simply a desire to explore a new area, Fran couldn’t say.
Fran wished she had better knowledge of exactly how her parents discovered York’s Log Village on Loon Lake or how it became one of many contenders for future vacations. Fran said her parents mailed a series of inquiries to various locations. Replies were received and follow up letters were sent back out.
“It was quite a process,” she said. “They were impressed with the letter from York’s and rightfully so. We were all so impressed with everything there. So, it became the annual place to spend the month of July.”
After high school, Fran was accepted to the journalism program at the University of Maine.
“If you were among the fortunate, which most of the people in these suburban communities were, it was not unusual to go to a prep school. As far as I was concerned, going college was the next thing to do. I knew I wanted to be in the news industry and I knew I wanted to be in Maine,” she said.
Unfortunately, the university dropped its journalism courses during World War II. Undeterred, Fran transferred to the University of Pennsylvania.
“My reasoning for picking University of Maine was geographical. I wanted to be in this part of the country and a lot of influential people went to that college,” Fran said. “I couldn’t stay in Maine without the journalism program and Penn was 75 miles from my home in New Jersey. Amazingly enough, I was admitted. However, I missed Maine.”
After graduating college, Fran went to work for a newspaper in St. Johnsbury, VT. She spent five years there before taking a brief position with what was then Claremont Daily Eagle in Lebanon, NH.
“I worked a year and a half in New Hampshire just to give all of Northern New England a try,” she said with a laugh. “I wanted to be in Maine and the obvious place to go from there was Portland.”
She successfully landed a job as a copy editor for what was then the Portland Sunday Telegram. According to Fran, she worked for the Portland newspaper from 1953 – 1973. She also wrote a column mostly dedicated to ski news.

Fran York is the subject of a house advertisement in the Nov. 17, 1968 edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram (Newspapers.com screenshot)
“It was kind of a sideline,” she said. “I got the company to hire me on in that capacity as well as my regular work.”
She wasn’t afforded extended month-long vacations like her father had been. However, she would continue to visit York’s resort as time allowed.
“As soon as I became a working woman and acquired some kind of benefits, I would come up when I could but I couldn’t spend a month at the resort every summer,” she said. “This type of resort became less popular as as the years wore on. It was a gradual change in vacation habits. People would come to Rangeley for shorter times.”
York’s had been owned by Sam’s family for generations. He was at the helm when the resort closed in 1965. Despite the closure, the connection Fran had with the area was strong. In 1970, she and Sam married. Fran was Sam’s second wife and the marriage came with a wonderful and large stepfamily.
Sam retired but never stopped working, Fran said. He died in 1987. For the last 38 years, Fran has continued to lead a life in the area she’s loved for most of her 100 years.
In 2023, Fran was the recipient of Rangeley’s Boston Post Cane, a time-honored tradition bestowed upon the oldest town resident.
Asked if she had advice for living a long life, Fran said, “I don’t have any, other than to eat good food and plenty of it.”
A century in time marks significant changes. So many, in fact, that it can be difficult to comprehend.
Sam’s grandson, Jamie York, said, “The last century is full of the invention of things we take for granted. Sam was born in a time when no one owned cars. His son became a pilot. I have a degree in computer science. The change in 100 years is wild, if you think about it.”
Fran referred to the newspaper as she talked about the changes in technology.
I still get the newspaper but it comes through the mail. I still enjoy reading it even if it is at least a day old,” she said.
She could read the news online the day it was published, Fran added. However, she resisted embracing advances in technology.
“I am not online. I made that mistake years ago. Maybe it wasn’t a mistake, I don’t know,” Fran explained. “I did not want to be involved in the electronic world. I should have known that I was going to cut myself off from a lot of things. It is very difficult to operate nowadays without being online.”
After a moment of processing her statement, Fran switched the subject and started chatting about the arrival of her family. There are plans in place to celebrate Fran’s century.
“I feel very lucky in my life and the way it has developed,” she said.
Editor’s note: As a former newswoman, Fran switched roles from interviewee to interviewer more than once. She echoed questions, searching for shared life experiences and connections. As she talked about her life with clarity, I realized the hours spent with Fran were some of the most worthwhile hours I have spent in a long time.
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