SIDNEY -- An Oakland woman who died in a motorcycle accident Sunday night in Sidney was a star athlete in high school and a loving mother and sister, family members said.

Sarah Lamarre, 42, was traveling north on Pond Road at about 6:30 p.m. when her motorcycle got onto the soft shoulder, hit a piece of turf and went airborne, Maine State Police said.

Police said Lamarre, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene after striking a tree.

"She was a very caring person who loved her children and loved her brothers -- and was really, overall, caring to not only her family, but to a stranger on the street," said Lamarre's brother, Matt Libby, a Gardiner resident.

The mother of four was energetic and had a dazzling smile and great sense of humor, said her husband, David Lamarre

Together, they had a 3-year-old child; she had three older children from a previous marriage, he said.

"She was the most nonjudgmental person I have ever met," he said. "Sarah could mingle with a neurosurgeon or somebody that's down on their luck. She just had a way of making everyone feel comfortable. People gravitated toward her."

Libby, 38, said she was the only girl in a family of five; he was the youngest. It's been a tough few years for the family.

"We lost one sibling in 1992. We lost our dad in 2002 to brain cancer; our mom just died -- it'll be two years this December," Libby said. "Sarah was having a hard time with my mom's death. It's been hard for everybody in the family."

Lamarre was an avid soccer player at Waterville Senior High School, from which she graduated in 1984, Libby said.

"They won four state championships three years in a row," he said. "She was quite an athlete. She was a great sister. We were real close."

The accident Sunday occurred near the Messalonskee Lake boat landing and the New England Music Camp on Pond Road, State Police said. Pond Road was closed for nearly two hours while police investigated the crash.

Amy Calder -- 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com