MOORPARK, Calif. – Avis Markey Layman, 79, a famous chef, Maine author and TV personality, died May 29, 2007, in Ventura, Calif. She was born Feb. 1, 1928, in Island Falls, the daughter of William and Hester Forsythe Markey. Avis was a graduate of Greenville High School and Le Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts, New York. Avis raised her family in the Moose-head Lake Region of Maine. Little did she know when she was awarded the Betty Crocker Award from Greenville High School that she would go on to become a star chef and cook for the rich and famous. She was the chef for Mrs. L. Corrin Strong, widow of the former ambassador to Norway and heir to the Eastman Kodak fortune, in North Haven and Annapolis, Md. From Annapolis, Md., she moved to Palm Beach, Fla., to become the chef for Earle E.T. Smith, mayor of Palm Beach, Fla., and the last ambassador to Cuba. She moved to Beverly Hills, Calif., and was the chef for Dr. Jules Stein, president and founder of Music Corporation of America. She prepared her culinary masterpieces for Charlton Heston, Samuel Goldwyn, William French Smith, Joseph Cotton, Chief Justice Warren Burger, Lisa Minnelli and Gov. and Mrs. Ronald Reagan, to name a few. Avis also owned Le Duc of Palm Beach, Fla., where she designed elegant clothing for high society. She sold her Palm Beach, Fla., business to move back to Maine to live closer to her family. Avis owned and operated a catering business in the Augusta area for a number of years. She also had a series of television appearances as the chef for Maine Magazine on Maine’s public TV Station Channel 10 and gave cooking demonstrations at the Whip & Spoon, Portland. Avis was the author of her own cookbook, From Moose to Mousse. Avis was a past member of the board of directors for the Kennebec Valley YMCA’s Camp KV. She was a lifetime member of American Legion and DAV Auxiliary as well as the Eastern Star. She was also a member of the Kennebec Valley Garden Club. While in California she was a volunteer and gave cooking demonstrations at the Moorpark Senior Center. Survivors include her son, Rod and his wife, Linda, of Moorpark, Calif., with whom she lived for the past nine years, and their children, Allyson, her granddaughter and the apple of her eye and grandson, Jonathan; son, William of Winthrop and his family, Benjamin, Alex and his wife, Brittany and Billy; one great-granddaughter; as well as her sister, Ruthie and husband, Roland Lavigne, of Greenville; her sister, Sherby Kenney of Perth-Andover, New Brunswick; two special nieces, Myrna Belden of Warrensburg, N.Y., and Gloria Davis of Fairfield; many other nieces, nephews, cousins and special friends, in particular, Margene Owens of Manchester; and her canine grandchildren, Smokey and the Bandit, who were her daily companions. She was predeceased by her husband, Robert F. Layman, in 1995. A graveside service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, June 9, at the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery, Augusta. After the graveside service the family requests that friends and family gather to celebrate Avis’ life noon-3 p.m. at the Senator Inn, 284 Western Ave., Augusta. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in her memory be made to The Jimmy Fund, Attn.: Contribution Services, care of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place, West, 6th floor, Brookline, MA 02445-7226 or to Ronald McDonald House, 229 Kent St., Brookline, MA 02446 or a charity of your choice.
AVIS M. LAYMAN
