YARMOUTH – Allan Stephen Creighton, 65, died Friday, Nov. 30, at his home in Yarmouth with loved ones at his side after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Throughout the 20 months of his illness, he never gave up hope of beating this dreaded disease and maintained a positive attitude, which was quite remarkable to his family and friends.

He was born in Cambridge, Mass., on Aug. 30, 1942, the son of Charles and Ada Shapiro Creighton. He attended schools in Auburn and went to Edward Little High School. He graduated from Hebron Academy in 1960 and from Tufts University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology. Perhaps his facility with people derived from those studies, as he was always pleased that he introduced four of his closest friends to their subsequent spouses, and all of those marriages have lasted over 35 years.

While in college, he was a member of ROTC and joined the Air Force upon graduation. He trained at Tyndal Air Force Base, in Biloxi, Miss., as a weapons controller. Stationed in Labrador for two years, he became a captain and was the operations officer at the weapons control station at Goose Bay.

In 1969, he moved to Auburn with his wife Linda and joined his father at Creighton Shoe, one of the first shoe outlets in the area. Between 1969 and 1981, he expanded that shoe business around the state to five stores, which also carried handbags and a line of stuffed animals.

After his marriage ended, he left the shoe business and began a career in real estate where he carved a unique niche for himself. While working for ERA Worden, he was Realtor of the Year for Androscoggin County in 1989. He also taught English and realestate licensing for Central Maine Technical College in Auburn.

He subsequently worked for Century 21 before moving to the Portland area and joining Coldwell Banker.

He later joined Keller Williams in 2006 as the Compliance Officer, a job for which he was ideally suited. All the time he was battling his disease and having chemotherapy treatments, he was proudest of the fact that he continued to work almost every day, making him a source of courage and inspiration to his co-workers. In early November, colleagues at Keller Williams honored his contributions to the real estate community and his love of comedy with a roast, attended by over 200 brokers from around the state.

During his years in Portland, he also taught the sales agent and associate broker courses for USM, providing close to 500 students with a professional education in real estate. In addition he taught many three hour seminars required for agents to renew their licenses, both through his office and through the University of Southern Maine.

His knowledge of real estate law and his gift for imparting it to his students was remarkable. He included amusing anecdotes from his own real estate experiences to keep his material appealing and was available at any time for those who needed extra help or encouragement, all of which made him an ideal instructor.

His favorite hobby was humor, and he delighted in collecting funny stories from many friends on the Internet and from newspapers to share with others. He could always be counted on to tell a joke or create a pun on the spot. Another passion was travel, and he and his partner Rachel traveled to many countries.

He was devoted to his family and was never happier than when visiting and sharing a good meal with his children, his relatives or his friends.

He is survived by his loving partner of 13 years, Rae Garcelon; his parents, Charles and Ada Creighton of Sun City, Ariz.; his children, Leigh Kelter and her husband, Chris, of Jamaica Plain, Mass., and his son, Eric and his wife, Laurie, of Lexington, Mass.; Rae’s children, Gregg Garcelon of Whitefish, Mont., and Gwen Garcelon of Carbondale, Colo., and her children, Emmet and Suzannah; and many cousins.

Rae and his children express their deepest gratitude to his colleagues at Keller Williams, who have been so supportive, caring and generous throughout this long ordeal. The family also thanks Dr. Weisberg, Dawn and the wonderful nurses at the Maine Cancer Center in Scarborough, for their extraordinary kindness during Allan’s illness. A special heartfelt thank you to the selfless and capable staff of Allegiance Hospice; Dr. Bob Fried, Karen Kinder and Becky Seward.