BRIDGTON – Barbara Taylor Bodge Knowles, 94, died Monday, June 5, after a brief stay at Bridgton Hospital.

She was born May 5, 1912, in Brockton, Mass., daughter of Harold Smith Bodge and Maybelle Whitcomb Taylor. She graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., in 1934 with a degree in English.

During college she spent time in FDR’s White House as a guest of the Roosevelts. After college, she worked for Jimmy Roosevelt in Boston, where she met her husband-to-be, Robert Mansfield Knowles, whom she married in 1936. She and her family lived in Scituate, Mass., where she was active in sports, theater and the League of Women Voters.

She moved to South Portland with her husband in 1960, and lived there until they moved to Casco in 1972. During her time in Maine, she was an active volunteer. She spent many years working in the Junior League Thrift Shop in Portland, and she also worked with the Friends of the Blind, eventually as board president. In Casco she was an enthusiastic tutor, including working with a Polish family as they successfully sought U.S. citizenship.

She was an avid reader and literacy supporter all of her life, volunteering at both the Raymond Library and the Casco Village Library for more than 34 years. Recently, her service was featured on Channel 8, where she was celebrated as the oldest library volunteer in the state of Maine. She continued her literacy efforts, reading for children at the day-care center near her home in Casco.

After the death of her husband in 1980, she became a Peace Corps volunteer. Approaching the age of 70, she was posted to Botswana, Africa, where she taught English at the Romatswa Secondary School. In Botswana, she built a facility for the Romatswan students so they could receive breakfast and lunch during their school day. She had the privilege of hosting the president of Botswana, when he came to dedicate the new building.

Upon returning to Maine, she continued her volunteer work. She was an active member of the Casco Community Church, where she served as a member of the Guild and the church choir, participating in this year’s Christmas concert. She was an avid bridge player and a proud member of the Gimlet Girls.

She leaves her daughter, Sandra Taylor Knowles and her husband, William D. Willett; her son, Robert Mansfield Knowles and his wife, Cathy P. Knowles; five grandchildren, Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, Katherine Mansfield Houle and her husband, Roland Mansfield Houle, Robert Mansfield Slemmer and his wife, Paige Dawson Slemmer, Sandra Taylor Slemmer and Jessica Erin Knowles; and four great-grandchildren.

She was loved and will be missed by many friends in many places in the world.