FARMINGTON — Elizabeth Aphia Karkos, 91, of Wilton, died on Saturday, April 16, at Orchard Park Rehabilitation and Living Center.

She was born on Sept. 27, 1919, in Jersey City, N.J., the daughter of Arthur B. and Florence Bogardus Cole.

She graduated from Wilton Academy in 1937 and Westbrook College in 1939.

On Oct. 21, 1939, she married Harold Michael Karkos. He predeceased her in 2003.

“Betty,” as she was known over her lifetime, was active in the First Congregational Church, Wilton, and was one of the first women deacons and also served as treasurer of the Women’s Fellowship. She was a member of the Tyngtown Club, the Maine Graphics Association and its Century Club. She loved playing bridge every Monday.

In 1949, she and her husband of 64 years started Wilton Printed Products Inc., later spinning off the silk-screen department and opening Wilton Silk Screen Inc. After retirement, they drove their son’s 1939 Buick to California.

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She shared her husband’s interest in history and collected memorabilia from the area to begin a museum with other like-minded enthusiasts; thus, the opening of the Wilton Historical Society’s Home and Farm Museum.

Betty is survived by a son, Stephen A. Karkos and his wife, Kathleen Foster and their son Randall Karkos of San Jose, Calif.; a brother, Henry B. Cole of Waterford, Conn.; two grandsons, Michael Karkos and his wife, Leslie and their daughter, Phoebe Karkos, and Andrew Karkos; a granddaughter, Laura Markarian and her husband, Michael and their twins, Michael Donald and Lauren Anne and their daughter, Meghan; daughter-in-law, Paulette Berendes and her husband, Leo Berendes; cousin Carol R. Anderson and her daughter Valerie Duffy and her husband Brian.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by their son, Donald A. Karkos, in 1990.

Tributes and condolences may be shared with her family at www.wilesrc.com.


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