Key Real Estate | Your Key to the Lake's Region

Jane Thomas

Jane was born and raised in Sanford, Maine. She was the younger of two daughters of Richard and Gladys Leach. Graduating from Sanford High School, Jane then majored in retailing and graduated from Chamberlain School of Retailing in Boston. Her family had a cottage on Square Pond, so she grew up in the summers at the lake.

In 1969, she married Elias Thomas of Portland, and the following year, their daughter Heather was born. Jane and Elias built a home in Acton, where they still reside.

“Real Estate is sort of a tradition in our family. In the 1930’s, my father, Richard “Duffy” Leach began to sell properties in the Sanford, Maine area. He had a small office in our home, and was well known for years to “hold office hours, between noon and one o’clock” in front of the Sanford Trust Company building. His business prospered and in 1970, Duffy, my sister Joan and I decided to open a real estate office in what had been known for years as the Mousam Lake Dinette. I can still remember when we opened the office – we had one lakefront listing “For Sale” and one listing “For Rent”. It was the same property and one which my father owned! Times have certainly changed over the past thirty-five seasons.

Jane and Heather. Click for a full size version

“As a youngster, Heather grew up in the family business, answering the telephones, stuffing envelopes and generally helping out around the office. Every afternoon the school bus would drop Heather off at the Real Estate office, where she would spend the remainder of the day with us. Even when she was an infant, Heather had a playpen in one corner of the office.

JT reading. Click for a full size version

“A few years ago, our grandson, “J.T.” was caught sitting on the front steps of our office reading through a real estate sales book. So I guess one could say that the real estate business has been instilled in us for four generations! We are proud to have been an integral part of the growth of the York County Lakes Region, and we feel our office has become a landmark over the years. Ask anyone for directions and they will tell you to go to the foot of Mousam Lake and turn either left or right at ‘The Key”! We look forward to serving the people of the area for many years to come.”