Jupiter Sachiel

Jupiter Sachiel, 75, of Willimantic, CT passed away on August 9, 2015. She is survived by her two daughters, Theresa Deal of Anderson, SC and Cherie Sachiel-Flint, of Ellington, CT. In addition, she is survived by her grandchildren Ryan Jamison, Brooke Brantley, Briana Flint, and Kayla Flint, as well as her great grandchildren, Quinton, Allyssa, Suvannah and Anthony. She was born in Anderson, SC as Marilyn Alexander, but grew up given a foster name of Marilyn Craig. She moved to CT at the age of 18, where she worked as a governess in Stonington, and later began using the name of Annie Bell. Eventually she legally had her name changed to Jupiter, which she liked very much, and it gave her a since of independence. She arrived in CT with only a 3rd grade education, having been withdrawn from school to work at home on the farm. She was determined to continue to learn, and attended adult night classes off and on throughout the years, read many books, and became able to function quite well in society; she was proud of that accomplishment, as were her family. In 1969 she became the first woman cab driver in New London, CT, and even had her picture in the New London Day, with a caption written about her and the changing times. She worked through various professions during and after her cab driving days, such as an ambulance driver, waitress, bar tender and finally as a pipe insulator for Electric Boat in Groton, CT. She was proud that one of the ships she help build was the Trident class submarine, The Ohio. She became a stroke survivor at the young age of 46 years old, leaving her with paralysis on her left side. However, even as tragic as that was, it was her sheer tenacity and will, which allowed her to live many years after that. She learned to drive her car again, and she was able to live by herself for many years, while simultaneously (for 14 years) taking care of her 5 dogs and her cat. She was a person who loved animals, someone who had no qualms with taking in the various strays in the neighborhood, or even nursing injured pigeons and the occasional seagull. She was also a person who believed in saying what she thought, with no "social filter" in between, sometimes to the point her children would sometimes comment, "I can't believe you said that", to which she would answer, "Well, it's true". The one weakness/struggle that she did not win against, was her smoking, which is what eventually lead to her demise. To anyone reading this, who is still smoking, please, please stop. It's a very long, slow, debilitating way to spend the last years of your life, and those who love you dearly, can only stand by and watch as you are more and more torn away from the things you love to do, as well as from the people who love you. We will miss her very much.