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The Life of Catherine H. Stilmar

Catherine Higgins Stilmar, 96, died on August 15, 2014 following a fall in her family home in Dennisville, New Jersey. She had been entertaining children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in the house she had loved and visited every year since she was a small child.

Catherine was born in New York City where she lived until the age of 14 when she moved with her family to Poughkeepsie, New York. She graduated from Saint Mary's Academy in Poughkeepsie, graduated in the Class of 1940 from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, pursued graduate work at University of Massachusetts, and taught at Westbrook Junior College in Maine. She moved to Washington, DC, and worked for the National Bureau of Standards as a chemist during WWII. Following her marriage to Frederic Stilmar in 1943, she moved to Wilmington, Delaware, where Fred worked for DuPont. Unable to work for DuPont or for DuPont's competitors because of personnel policies at the time, she directed her energies to her family and community service. She served on the board of the YMCA and then the board of Gilpin House (formerly Home for Aged Women) of which she was chair for 5 years. She was elected and served as the first woman ever on the vestry of Trinity/Old Swedes Episcopal Church. In 1972, after her two children were grown and her husband Fred retired, she split her time between her family home in Dennisville and an apartment at the River Park Cooperative in Wilmington. In 2002 she was honored for 50 years of service in the Wilmington Christmas Shop and continued active service for another 9 years. She was active on the River Park board for 25 years until the age of 93 when she moved to Northern Virginia to be with family because of Fred's declining health. Fred passed away earlier this year at the age of 98.

Catherine is survived by her daughter, Dorothy Green, son, Bennett Stilmar, their spouses, four grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. In September, a memorial service was held for close family and friends at St. Albans Parrish Church in Washington, DC, where she and Fred had been married in 1943.


Published in The News Journal on Dec. 17, 2014

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