People We've Lost
Cynthia (Sakovics Collins) Brotzman, Del John Rinaldi, Dorothy ‘Dottie’ Abbott, Anne A. Mazlish
Note: “People We’ve Lost” is a feature of the Bar Harbor Story where we share obituaries of people that the island lost in the previous 1-2 weeks. We’re doing this because we think everyone deserves to be remembered as widely as possible. If you have an obituary for a loved one or friend that you can’t afford to place in other spaces, please let us know and we’ll share it here for you.
Cynthia (Sakovics Collins) Brotzman
Bar Harbor
Cynthia (Sakovics Collins) Brotzman, 74, of Bar Harbor, Maine lost consciousness, suddenly, on June 27 and remained in that state until July 3, when they removed life support. She was surrounded by family and friends until she passed.
The wife of John Brotzman of Bar Harbor, Cindy was born on July 16, 1950 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Theresa (Maioriello Sakovics) Collins, the late Julius Sakovics and stepdaughter of the late John “Jack” Collins.
Raised in Bethlehem, she graduated from Liberty High School in 1968, attended Dennison University and graduated from Penn State University. She received her Master’s Degree from University of Maine and later earned the prestigious Master Teacher Certification.
She was an educator much of her life. Starting early, as the oldest of seven children, Cindy was constantly showing the way and educating her siblings in the things she deemed important. When she started to get paid for her work, she taught elementary school in Phoenix, Arizona for years. She found her passion in Bar Harbor in 1997 where she taught 5th, 7th and 8th grades at Conners Emerson School until 2022 when she retired. She loved her work, adored the students and her colleagues and was an incredible teacher who made tough subjects easier to understand…even for adults.
Previous to teaching, she worked at Western Electric and held other jobs not normally held by women at the time: as a welder and as one of two women laborers in the Roll Foundry at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation (which she loved). She had a very brief stint as the self-proclaimed “worst waitress, ever” and worked a few summers at Willis' Rock Shop in Bar Harbor.
Cindy was fascinated by other cultures and went to Panama as a college exchange student. Through school travel programs in Maine, she traveled with her students to Germany, Belgium, China and Australia.
She was a talented crafter and created her own intricate greeting cards. She was a voracious reader and belonged to a writing club for years. Cindy was resistant to technology and had a terrible sense of direction, that was legendary. She believed in proper grammar, decency, legitimate news sources and despised bullies. She could hold a grudge like nobody’s business.
She loved animals, in particular dogs, having had many beloved beagles, and golden retrievers. She had pet birds throughout her life…and in her last year, a cat.
Her last act was to be an organ donor. Having a husband who was a heart recipient, she thought this very important.
She will be forever missed by her mother and husband, her six siblings: David Collins (Joanne) of Nazareth, PA; Ronald Collins of Wassergas, PA; Lynn Cunningham (Don); Kelly DiGiacinto (Brian Dougherty) and Sean Collins, all from Bethlehem, PA and by her three nephews, four nieces…and Henry, the cat.
Cindy’s family would like to thank her loyal friends who stayed by her side in the hospital, the staff at the Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and David and Cathy Brotzman.
A memorial service has yet to be scheduled.
Del John Rinaldi
Ellsworth and Bass Harbor
Del John Rinaldi, 85, of Ellsworth, Maine, passed away peacefully on July 1, 2025, at Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital after a brief illness. He was born on June 18, 1940, to Paul and Dorothy (Foss) Rinaldi.
Following in his father’s footsteps, he spent his life on the ocean, fishing until the age of 79.
In 1987 John met and married the love of his life, Sharon Veazie. They spent the next 37 years raising children, going on family vacations, as well as the occasional bus tour around New England.
He is survived by his wife, Sharon; his children, John Rinaldi and his wife, Del Rinaldi, Danielle Rinaldi; as well as his stepchildren Robin Norwood, Michelle Barker, Robert Veazie, Michael Veazie, and their spouses; grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins and numerous in-laws.
There will be a graveside service at Mount Height Cemetery in Southwest Harbor on Saturday, July 19, at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of John to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Dorothy ‘Dottie’ Abbott
Bar Harbor
Dorothy “Dottie” Abbott of Punta Gorda, Fla., died on July 11, 2025. She was born on June 19, 1937, in Bar Harbor, Maine, the daughter of George and Rosa (Butler) Abbott. She graduated from Bar Harbor High School and Husson College, where she served as captain of the women’s basketball team and president of Delta Sigma Delta. She worked for Travelers Insurance Company in Syracuse, N.Y., for 27 years, retiring in 1993. Dottie was an avid Syracuse University sports fan.
In 1995, she and her partner Barbara moved to Punta Gorda and for several years spent summers in Bar Harbor working at the J.H. Butterfield Company. In Florida, she played tennis into her 80s with the Charlotte County Women’s Tennis League and the 50+ Women’s Tennis League.
She was an Elk member, Punta Gorda Lodge 2606, as well as life member of the Eastern Star, Molunkus Valley Chapter #95, Sherman, Maine.
She is survived by niece Carolyn Abbott of Tacoma, Wash., nephew Michael Abbott of Covington, Wash., great-nephews George and Joseph Dockery, great-niece Ruth Vermillion, Barbara’s daughters Debbie, Brenda, Cindy, and several cousins. Dottie was predeceased by her partner of 40 years, Barbara Purtell, parents George and Rosa Butler Abbott, sister Ruth Murphy, brother William G. "Bud" Abbott, and niece Anne Marie Dockery.
Memorial at Kays-Ponger Funeral Home, Punta Gorda, Wednesday, July 23, at 2 p.m. Donations in Dottie’s memory may be made to the charity of your choice.
Anne A. Mazlish
Bar Harbor
Anne Adele Austin Mazlish died on July 16, 2025, at age 91 following a short illness, with her sons by her side, at her home in Birch Bay, Bar Harbor, Maine. She was born on February 6, 1934, in Norwalk, Connecticut, the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. James Benedict Austin of Darien, Connecticut. She was the eldest of three daughters and one son.
Anne attended the Ethel Walker School and Mount Holyoke College, spending her junior year in France with the Sweet Briar Group. She graduated in 1955 with a major in history and political science. Her first job was as a journalist at the Boston Herald newspaper, where she worked for seven years. She married Bruce Mazlish, a professor of history at M.I.T., and they had two children, Anthony and Jared Mazlish. The family lived in Cambridge and spent summers in Seal Harbor on Mount Desert Island, ME. During that period of her life, she served as committee chair of a number of study committees and as an officer of the Cambridge League of Women Voters and became an active member of the Cambridge Plant and Garden Club. Later she also joined the Mount Desert Garden Club.
She and her husband were divorced and Anne founded “Serendipity Tours,” an international garden tour business, with two friends, which lasted about 10 years. When the business closed, Anne moved half time to Somesville, Maine., going back and forth between Mount Desert Island and Cambridge, Massachusetts for about eight years before finally settling permanently in Somesville, Maine. At that point, she often spent several months of winter in Vero Beach, Florida.
Anne was a writer with a love of history, and early on after moving to Maine, she became involved with the Somesville Village Improvement Society and then the Mount Desert Island Historical Society. As a writer of poetry, she also completed two books, “Hearing the Weather Fall” and “Stranger Walking” that were published on the island at a fine printing press, Highloft, in Seal Harbor. As a member of the Somesville Village Improvement Society, she designed and launched a costumed historic walking tour recreating the early years of Somesville. Later as President of the MDI Historical Society, she researched and wrote a book enlarging the diary of the first summer visit of wealthy and prominent visitors to the Island in 1855. It was called the “Tracy Log” and published in Bar Harbor to benefit the Society which had embarked on a significant period of growth and influence during her tenure.
Anne was also very proud of having learned to sail at the age of thirty in the summers in Seal Harbor. This led to her buying a small racing boat called “Shanti.” The Mercury class, at the time, had weekly races in Northeast Harbor. She finally joined the fleet there so she could race regularly, which she did with some success for 34 years, ending her final years at the helm of a Bullseye in the Southwest Harbor Fleet.
Living on the Island year-round especially appealed to Anne because of the nature of its participatory culture, giving people the opportunity to try other ventures in which they were interested, but which in city life are mostly professional. Anne relished singing with the summer choral and the Surry Opera which also included performing trips to Russia and Japan. She took acting classes, leading to a monologue performance of “The Belle of Amherst,” a play about Emily Dickinson whose poetry she particularly admired.
Anne leaves behind her sons; Tony and wife Anne, and Jared and wife Darcy; and six grandchildren, Zachary, Dean, Eve, Jacob, Caleb and Devan, all of whom she dearly loved. She also leaves her sister Jennefer Hirshberg and her brother James B. Austin, Jr. She was predeceased by her sister Meredith Walkington.
More information will be shared soon regarding a memorial service.
Condolences may be expressed at www.jordanfernald.com