LIMERICK – Cleo Kathleen Howard Stilphen of Bolster’s Mills died of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 16, at the age of 72.

She was born into this world in a logging camp in Moose River on July 10, 1933, the daughter of Laurel and Helen Netto Thompson. She was adopted by her Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel Howard of Phillips after her mother died in an automobile accident. After high school and as a graduate of Bliss Business College in Lewiston, she pursued a secretarial career.

She was intimately involved in the formal establishment of the Democratic Party in Maine while working for the well-known attorney of that day, Frank Coffin.

In 1954, she met George Stilphen of Scarborough; it was mutual love at first sight and they were married at the First Baptist Church in Portland on Jan. 21, 1957. Together they raised three children, Geoffrey, George and Jennifer. She spent her last few weeks of life living with and being cared for by her daughter, Jennifer, of Limerick.

She was a loving mother and grandmother who will be sorely missed. Always an unusually gifted artist, she matriculated into the University of New Hampshire in Durham in 1972, where she explored a wide variety of media, her favorites being watercolor and etching/printmaking. A year at Franconia College in Franconia, N.H., honed her etching skills to a high degree. Her quick mind and clever hands later led to experimenting with many country crafts culminating in a full-time business making the most wonderful “portrait” corn husk dolls, which were sold widely throughout the United States. This was a very successful business that she and her husband shared. After retiring from this very demanding work and upon discovering the almost limitless possibilities inherent in computer-generated graphics, her artistic talents began to expand into this new realm and there are many people today whose every birthday, anniversary or day-of-note was blessed with one of her exquisite one-of-a-kind cards or lovely remembrances.

It must also be mentioned that she was famed as a most wonderfully inventive cook and baker and her rhubarb-custard-tapioca or apple pies were looked for by countless folks for miles around and will be missed by many who appreciate such things. She knew how to both cook and bake intuitively the old-fashioned way, learning these secrets from her paternal grandmother, Nellie Howard of Phillips.

In 1995, she was drawn by the Lord Jesus Christ to the Oxford Hills Christian Fellowship in Norway, where she became known for her strong, but simple faith and became a great prayer warrior. She was a very precious lady to those in her home church body and her artistic skills were used in this realm also.

She leaves her husband, George, of Bolster’s Mills; her three children, Geoffrey M. Stilphen of Key West, Fla., George M. Stilphen of Lewisville, N.C., and Jennifer Krebs of Limerick; three brothers, Fred Thompson, Clinton Thompson and Richard Thompson; seven grandchildren, Amber Cadmus of Phillipsburg, N.J., Sarah Story of Saco, Caleb, Joel and Josiah Krebs of Limerick, and Trevor and Leah Stilphen of Lewisville, N.C.; and four great-grandchildren, Lillie Clauson of South Berwick, Toby Cadmus of Phillipsburg, N.J., and Ruby and Victor Story of Saco.

She was predeceased by three sisters, Connie, an infant, Beverley Waddell of Manchester and Sharon Dewitt, a stepsister of Farmington.

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