BELFAST — Dana Degenhardt, 66, of Belfast, Maine, died unexpectedly at home on September 23, 2026.

Dana was born August 8, 1960, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to Richard Neil Degenhardt and Ruth Toombs Degenhardt. She attended Allendale School in Pittsfield until 1969, when the family moved to Worthington, Massachusetts, the town Dana always considered her hometown. She attended the Russell H. Conwell School until 1972; her class was the last sixth-grade class to finish there before Gateway Middle School opened. She graduated from Gateway Regional High School in 1978 and from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1983 with a degree in Political Science.

Dana's career refused to stay in one lane. After Tufts, she worked at MIT in the Library and in Administration, then joined Spinnaker Software as an educational game tester in Boston, working her way up to project manager, and then went on to be a senior project manager at Addison-Wesley. In a move that surprised no one who knew her, except maybe her parents, she ran away to sea, working aboard the windjammer Stephen Taber out of Rockland, Maine. She attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, graduating with high honors, and while there she developed, edited, and published a cookbook with Cat Cora. This was followed by an internship at the prestigious Wheatleigh in Lenox, Massachusetts. After that she worked as a cook on the J. & E. Riggin and the Pauline.

She then returned to land and worked at MBNA, Down East Magazine as an editor, and later at Athena Health.

Along the way, she designed and built her own home in Lincolnville, Maine. She was an avid sailor, photographer, designer, art collector, cookbook developer, and jewelry maker. She was also a patron of comedy, supporting the comics of the Social Distancing Social Club (SDSC), a virtual comedy group led by Steve Hofstetter that formed during the pandemic, and later, the Steel City Arts Foundation in Pittsburgh.

She was the proud mother of cats. She had her father's love of space, astronomy, and the night sky. She loved lupines (often shouting "Lupines!" at the sight of them), Japanese maple trees, swimming, lighthouses, the sound of loons, classy t-shirts, rowing a dory or rowboat in the ocean all by herself, fireflies, square dancing, and contra dancing. She enjoyed chocolate from Chocolate Springs in Lenox, Scotch, particularly Shackleton, named after Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer she enjoyed reading about, and tasting red wine, though she rarely drank more than half a glass.

After she retired, she volunteered at the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, chatting up tourists and providing them with information about Belfast and the surrounding area.  She also took up making bracelets out of semi- precious stones. She made personalized bracelets for people she knew and met and loved choosing the colors and stones with each person in mind — small gifts that told people she saw them; she never accepted payment for them.

She loved to travel, and highlighted her trips to Hawaii, California, Arizona, and Colorado, as well as Canada, England, and her dream trip to Scotland (twice).

Dana is survived by her beloved sister, Andrea Degenhardt of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; her mother, Ruth T. Degenhardt of Belfast, Maine; her cousin and friend, Jean Chandler; her friends and neighbors Lori and Dan Alexander; and many, many dear friends and family in Maine, Massachusetts, California, Canada, around the country, and around the world.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Coastal Mountains Land Trust in Camden, Maine.

A Celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Memories and condolences may be shared with the family at www.ripostafh.com.