Sybil Riemensnider

In the early morning hours of 6 November, 2026, Sybil Riemensnider passed gently into Heaven where she was reunited with her loving husband of 29 years, Dick Riemensnider.

Sybil was 90 years old.

Sybil came into this world on 8 July, 1936 in Danvers, Mass, the daughter of Raymond and Veronica (Halupowski) Marquis.  Following high school graduation, she was accepted into the Boston Dispensary training program to become a certified lab technician.  Sybil followed her love of microbiology and worked in the labs at both Mass General and Peter Bent Brigham hospitals.  Her thorough understanding of microbiology helped grow her career to become the lab supervisor at the Shriners Burn Institute in Boston.  Her impressive work ethic caught the eye of the Skatron Medical Testing Equipment Company who invited her to tour their production facility in Lier, Norway.

While attending a microbiology conference, Sybil happened to meet Dick Riemensnider.  Their instant chemistry and shared interests in reading, art and gourmet cooking led them to be married in 1970.

Sybil and Dick lead a full life in Silver Springs, MD and later, South Portland, ME until his untimely death in 1999. Soon thereafter, Sybil retired from her career and settled into life in her new home in Scarborough’s Teal Point.  But as I am sure you can guess, sitting still was not one of Sybil’s characteristic traits.

She joined and eventually became president of Maine’s Alzheimer’s Association. She also volunteered in the gift shop of the Portland Art Museum.

In 1997, she realized that people were going hungry in our own community. Families. Children. The Elderly.

With the help of Holy Cross Church volunteers she opened a Food Pantry at St. John the Evangelist Church in South Portland, she converted a small room into a Food Pantry. Thus, The South Portland Food Cupboard was born.  As the organization grew, so too did Sybil’s tenacity and determination to ensure that nobody left hungry.  Sybil was a tireless advocate for donations of non-perishable food. Donations began to roll in; both financial and non-perishable food items. Sybil developed relationships with large food stores; bakeries; produce suppliers; anyone who would donate good food to help her on her mission.

She began to assemble a highly motivated group of volunteers who were instantly put to work.  If you were a volunteer and wore the trademark red apron of the Food Cupboard, you knew that there was ALWAYS something to do.  Idle chatter was not encouraged. And Sybil had no compunction about offering you clear direction on the ‘Right way to do things’, regardless of your opinion.

Despite several locational changes over the years, all within South Portland, her Marine-like discipline never waivered during her 20+ years tenure as Executive Director.  To this day, her mantra remains as current as it did in 1997:

“Respect the food, Respect the recipients and Respect each other.”

As the Food Cupboard continued to evolve and move to larger buildings, the need in the community continued to grow with it.  Today, almost 30 years later, her legacy remains the battle cry against hunger.  Just last year, nearly 7,000 families received food assistance totaling nearly $2m from the Food Cupboard.  And they show no signs of slowing.

Over the years, the recognition and appreciation of what Sybil contributed to the quality of life in the Greater Portland area also continued to grow.  (Ironically, of all the talents that Sybil possessed, inviting praise or attention was not one of them.)

A representative for South Portland schools’ The Locker Project wrote, “Thanks to Sybil Riemensnider and the South Portland Food Cupboard, we have kept our pantries in South Portland schools thriving and constantly restocked.  She is a blessing to the community of South Portland.”

She received the prestigious “6 Who Care” Award from Channel 6 News Center Maine in partnership with the area’s Rotary Club on 28 October, 2014 honoring local volunteers whose tireless efforts had made a profound impact on the communities they serve.  When Sybil was called to the dais to receive her award, they projected her name onto a large screen.  As the applause died down and Sybil went to the microphone, she started by thanking Cindy Williams and the team at News 6 for the Award. She then cleared her throat and said “but you misspelled my last name”.

When she retired in 2017, the Maine Legislature honored her for 20 years of service, praising her “grace and resilience” in meeting the food insecurities of the area’s needs head-on.  Senator Rebecca Millett described her as “the sort of selfless person every community wishes they had.”

But true to form, she could not sit still.

Sybil continued to be an active member of the South Portland/Cape Elizabeth Rotary Club while also serving as secretary for the Teal Point Condominium Association and many other ‘small volunteer’ roles. In her ‘spare time’, she organized the annual residents’ picnic and the ever popular ‘Thursdays on the Green’ where neighbors would get together on warm summer evenings to share their friendship, a glass of wine or two while problems of the modern world were both identified and solved.

When asked why she started the Food Cupboard, Sybil would often smile and answer with another question:

“Do you know why a small, highly committed group of people can make such a large impact on their community?” she would ask.

The answer is simple: “They are the only ones who ever have”.

We are all better people because of who Sybil was, what she did for our community and the grace with which she did it. She was often described as a ‘force of nature’ by those who knew her best.  Everyone should be so lucky as to have a ‘Sybil’ in their life.  We are blessed that God shared with us a person who personified compassion for others and a deep devotion to serving those in need.  While our hearts are broken because she has left us, we know she will never be far from us.  And that should bring us comfort.

Sybil is predeceased by her parents, Raymond and Veronica (Vicky) Marquis, her sister June Benoit, her brother-in-law, Laurent Benoit and her loving husband, Dick Riemensnider.  She is survived by her brother, Raymond J. Marquis and his wife, Annette of Raynham, MA, cousin Peter Urbanski and his wife Nancy Mason of Jay, ME along with many precious nieces, nephews and cousins and a vast number of grateful members of our community who were the recipients of her work. Sybil was also fortunate to have been an important member of many other ‘families’, including her loyal family from the Teal Point neighborhood where Sybil resided for twenty years.

The family would like to extend particular gratitude for the compassionate care she received from the wonderful staff and residents of Scarborough Terrace and Compassus hospice care. Additionally, the family would like to thank the tireless assistance she received by many of her devoted friends, neighbors, the countless people whose lives she made better and her best friend and partner- in-crime, Susan M. Saba.

In lieu of flowers, Sybil has requested donations be made to the South Portland Food Cupboard, 405 Western Avenue, Suite 17, South Portland, ME 04106.

Please check back for information on service details to come.