SACO — On March 20, the first day of spring, Elaine Frances DiCesare, 84, of Kennebunkport, died at the Monarch Center, with her loving children by her side.

Elaine was born Jan. 18, 1929, in Lewiston, daughter of John J. Butler and Mary Murphy Butler. She graduated from Lewiston High School and went on to earn her bachelor degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and her master’s in education from Boston University. She was a remedial reading and special education teacher for more than 30 years at numerous schools in Malden, Mass. Elaine caught the eye of Ronald Thomas DiCesare, who was teaching in a nearby classroom at the Faulkner School. They were married June 30, 1955.

For more than 40 years, during summer vacations and throughout retirement, Elaine and Ron would head to “The Anchorage” at Goose Rocks Beach in Kennebunkport, to run the family’s seaside guest house. Elaine looked forward to every summer as the guests, who were as close as family, returned to “The Anchorage” year after year.

She will be remembered as an elegant, graceful and generous lady with a contagious smile, who had a way of seeing the good in everyone.

She loved to entertain and extended an open invitation to family and friends. She had a passion for poetry, literature and music. She enjoyed playing bridge, swimming and sailing at the beach, skiing, tennis, gardening and walking her dog.

She was a committee member of the Zonta Club of Malden, working to raise scholarships for young women to further their education; was a Junior Aid Association board member and a volunteer “Doric Dame” docent for the Boston State House for more than  20 years.

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She is survived by her sons, Daniel of Portsmouth, N.H., and Peter of York; her daughter, Helene DiCesare and her husband, John Morgan, of Cape Porpoise; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Elaine was predeceased by her husband, Ronald; her parents; her brother, John Butler; and her sisters, Cecilia Butler Ward and Ruane Butler George.

The family would like to thank Beacon Hospice and staff at the Monarch Center for the loving care received during her final days.

Condolences may be shared with the family at www.bibberfuneral.com.


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