Obituary of Canda D Tinkelenberg

Canda D. Tinkelenberg (nee Manwaring), 81, of Durham, Maine, died on Wednesday, October 23, 2024 in Yarmouth, Maine, her three children at her side.  

She was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 27, 1943, daughter of Rosamond (May) Manwaring and Joshua G. D. Manwaring.  Second only to the love she had for her children (“how lucky I was to have three babies to hold”) was her love of horses and horseback riding.  As an accomplished riding instructor she was a revered mentor to both friends and students alike.  

Family adventures were a passion, from a summertime stint camping in a remote corner of Nova Scotia with her sisters and her mother as a youngster, to outings exploring New England and beyond, her children squawking “I’m hungry!”, “I need to pee!” and “Are we there yet?” (some of which squawking they’ve outgrown).  Summers spent at Cape Poge on Martha’s Vineyard were a supreme highlight of her early life: dodging hurricanes, racing sailboats, horseback riding (when her self-sufficient horse wasn’t busy peering in car windows up at the lighthouse), and rushing back from Edgartown, her mother in tow on water skis, to eat their ice cream before it melted.  Nearly every autumn of her later life found her at Acadia, reconnected with the ocean that she so loved and exploring Mount Desert Island and the surrounding region by car, bike, boat and foot.  She also very much enjoyed hiking with her family, one summer spent hiking every weekend with her mother.  Favorite hiking destinations included the Ammonoosuc Ravine and Lion Head trails on Mount Washington, and the Crawford Path atop the Presidentials.  

She was not deterred from kayaking when an inability to get out of her boat plagued her; rather, it was an opportunity to meet men, once having beckoned a pair of first-responder types, busy launching their own motor boat, to assist her.  She enjoyed being creative with sewing, knitting, and making greeting cards.  She loved yard work and gardening (as Maine’s weather would permit).  She never shied away from hard work, including that of caring for others such as her children, her mother, her horses, and her many dogs (at one point the proud parent of at least six canines).  She even participated, swinging a hammer, in the construction of her own house and barns (though hanging on to the house roof to install sheathing was a dubious endeavor, one ultimately and thankfully relinquished to professional builders…).  

She grew up in Bradford, New Hampshire, and in Medfield and Needham Massachusetts.  She went to Dana Hall high school and Hollins University, and had a deep appreciation for the natural world, in particular biology, as reflected in her degree from Boston University.  She married Hendrikus W. Tinkelenberg, with whom she had her three children, in 1963; they divorced in 1977.  

Canda is survived by her three children William Tinkelenberg, Arthur Tinkelenberg (Stephanie), and George Tinkelenberg (Stephanie); by her grandson Henry; by her sister Rosamond Manwaring; and by her niece Hannah Kenny and her nephew Adam Harris.  She was predeceased by her parents and by her sister Nancy Harris.   

A Celebration is tentatively planned for the spring of 2025; inquiries may be sent to cdtinkestate@gmail.com.  In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the MSSPA, PO Box 10, S. Windham, ME 04082, www.msspa.org/tribute/.