STRONG – Beatrice Lucy Farmer Milewski died Sunday, Sept. 16, at her home in Strong, after a long, courageous battle with cancer. She was surrounded by her family. “Music is a fair and glorious gift of God.”

She was born in Farmington on Nov. 12, 1949, to Ruby and Vincent Thaxter Farmer. She grew up in Temple as the youngest of five in the rambunctious family. Her elementary schooling was at the one-room Red Schoolhouse in Temple, and she graduated from Farmington High School. She attended the Northern Conservatory of Music in Bangor and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music education.

While attending the conservatory, she met and married the love of her life, Charles D. Milewski of Burnham. After college, they settled in Strong, where they raised their three children, Scott, Luci and Chris.

She began her career as a music teacher, where the difficulty of her new last name presented a challenge for students. She would ask, “Do you ski? You have a right ski and a left ski. My name is pronounced ‘My-left-ski.’

She taught for several years before she and Charles decided to build their own business. They ran The Lunch Box in Strong for five years, before running the Strong Nursing Home for 15 years, encouraging many employees to pursue their own dreams in the fields of nursing and education. She returned to her love of teaching music in the public school system in 1995, until she retired this spring due to her difficult illness.

She recognized and acknowledged that God had gifted her with a love and talent of music and believed it her mission to share the love and talent with as many as she was able. Having given her life to Christ at a young age, she was always involved with the church and when she and Charles settled in Strong, she became the choir director at the Strong United Methodist Church. The annual Christmas Cantata performed in Strong and Fairbanks every year was one of her favorite remembrances, reaching out to the entire community to share her faith and music.

In addition to music, she had a variety of interests: crafting, writing, reading, genealogy, story-telling and most notably: cooking. Many knew her as “Aunt Bea” from her stint on her radio show “Aunt Bea’s Kitchen” and she even published a cookbook. She co-ran a catering company and always kept her family and friends well-fed with new and old-favorite recipes.

She was an inspiration for many, always with a kind word and probably a song-phrase to go with it. With so many friends and acquaintances, she either “went to school with you” or “taught you in school” as were two of her often-used phrases.

There are many she held dear in her heart, but so many more that hold her dear in theirs. She was and is dearly loved and all who knew her will cherish her memory.

Her survivors include her beloved husband, Charles Milewski of Strong; son, Scott, and his wife, Carlene, of Augusta; daughter, Luci of Farmington; son, Chris of Strong; sister, Glenna Barden of Strong; brother, Erald Farmer of Temple; two beautiful grandchildren, Karalee and Ainslie; and many nieces and nephews. Having conducted and directed many choirs and bands in her life, she knew when to turn the page.

She was predeceased by her parents, Ruby and Thaxter Farmer; and her brothers, Bert Farmer and Hartley Farmer.