LEWISTON – Nancy W. Stiles, 91, of Stetson Road, Auburn, died of heart failure on Monday, Oct. 13, at Central Maine Medical Center.

She was born in Melrose, Mass., on Sept. 29, 1917, to Frederic and Edith Hunt Whiton. She was the youngest of their four children and the last survivor. The family moved to Westfield, N.J., when she was two, where she lived until 1946. She was a graduate of Westfield High School and Wellesley College, where she was able to attend her 70th reunion this summer, after wrapping up a ten-year tenure as class secretary. She also had a master’s degree in education from Columbia University.

In 1943, she married William H. Stiles of Westfield, who later managed the Metuchen Savings and Loan. They were happily married until his death on April 11, 2000. During the early part of their marriage, they lived in Brielle, Westfield and Metuchen in N.J., where she taught elementary school grades three to five and music. She was also a Girl Scout leader and active in church related activities.

After retiring, she and her husband moved to Leisure World in Silver Spring, Md., where she was involved in and helped run many organizations. An activity that she particularly enjoyed, through the Daughters of the American Revolution, was welcoming new citizens with words, flags and refreshments at their swearing in ceremonies. She also found time to write poetry, short stories and books.

They moved to their last home at Schooner Estates in Auburn in 1998. In retirement she found time to pursue many interests. She continued to play the piano and experimented with hand bells. She played in several groups but also arranged music so that she could play hand bell solos.

She thoroughly enjoyed playing bridge and Scrabble and was notoriously difficult to beat at either game. In later years, she was a member of the High Street Congregational Church in Auburn.

Throughout her life she enjoyed her relatives and her many friends.

She is survived by her daughter, Nancy R. Gordon and her husband, Kenneth, of Windham; two grandchildren, Marian Rowan and R. William Rowan and his wife, Erin; and a great-granddaughter, Carrigain Rowan, all of Portland.