LIVERMORE – A woman who some considered a town matriarch was remembered Tuesday for her strength, knowledge and integrity.

Irma Bowles, 93, died Monday night after a recent illness, close friend and caregiver Jackie Dion said.

Bowles served the town as registrar of voters for 34 years until December.

She was appointed by selectmen in 1967 at the age of 52 to keep track of voter lists. She took some time off during that time to run for Legislature and when her late husband was selectman.

She kept the voter list by hand until it was computerized, she said during an interview in 2007.

At 92, Bowles received the state Lorraine M. Fleury Award, which honors a person who exemplifies fairness, experience, knowledge and service. The town office staff recognized her in their nomination for the award for her record keeping and procedures that followed the letter of the law.

“Irma has always taken pride in her work – be it her sewing jobs for which she is well known, service clubs or politics. She is one of our town’s true treasures,” the nomination read.

“She was an absolutely amazing woman and had many accomplishments in her lifetime,” Dion said. Bowles was a wonderful communicator and always made people feel special and important, she said.

“This woman was incredible. I don’t know if they’re ready for her up there,” Town Clerk Renda Libby said.

The town has lost both Billie Gammon, founder of Norlands, and Bowles since January, which some considered the two matriarchs of the town, Dion said.

Libby worked side-by-side with Bowles during elections.

“This was a lady full of knowledge,” Libby said.

With her passing “I find myself trying to pull words together to express my love and respect for a woman that is beyond words,” she said.

Bowles “never needed an introduction,” Libby said. “She stood for what most all of us believe in.”

“Irma was my mentor, friend, and in some ways my critic. She was the core, and the heartbeat of what elections stood for. She taught me what it is to give and put your heart on the line,” she said.

“Being her deputy registrar in the fall of 2000 was not easy. With not much experience in the field of elections, and with my first presidential election before us, she always made sure that I knew it was OK to ask questions,” she said, because her theory was questions asked and answered gained knowledge.

“She knew her voters and their families and most of the kids. She welcomed new information that she received in the election conferences that her and I attended faithfully every year. Irma always felt that changes come too fast and we therefore have to stay on top of them. She loved to try and do things that she had read about and never done,” she said.

Libby said she admired Bowles’ zest for life, her respect for people, and her tremendous amount of knowledge that she shared.

“Irma liked to do her own fact-finding before forming an opinion,” select board administrative assistant Kurt Schaub said. “And she would freely share that opinion with you, though usually after she’d asked about yours. With Irma, there was no pretense. She was a humble, hardworking woman whose approval was often sought, though never really required. You just wanted to have it.”