BLAINE – Beulah M. (Gillen) Vinsonhaler, 87, beloved wife of the late Royal “Tiny” R. Vinsonhaler, died March 19, 2004, after a brief illness. She was born Aug. 8, 1916, in Blaine, the daughter of Joseph Gillen and Elizabeth Curtis Gillen. Beulah had the distinction of being the first woman town manager in the state of Maine. Her career started back in October of 1938, when due to financial difficulties, the town of Blaine was taken over by the Emergency Finance Board at Augusta. Beulah, a Blaine resident, was asked to be the assistant to the commissioner, and it was then that her career started. She held this position until 1942. In 1942, the resignation of the Town Manager of Blaine left a vacancy that the Town Council hired her to fill. She remained there until her marriage in 1945. Beulah and her husband moved the following year to Denver, Colo., her husband’s hometown. Beulah missed Blaine, though, and after two years they returned to Blaine. Beulah then served as treasurer in the city of Presque Isle from 1947-1952. In October of 1952, Beulah resigned to stay home and help with their small farm and livestock. Fate had other plans for her. Before two months had passed the Town Manager of Blaine had resigned and she was asked to finish out the term. Beulah stayed for the next 25 years. In addition to being the Town Manager for Blaine, Beulah also acted as the Town Clerk, Treasurer, and Justice of the Peace. When she was asked in an interview how she felt about remaining so long in the service of her town she answered, “They needed someone,” and in commenting on her work she said, “A position such as this has many problems, but also has its satisfactions. It’s nice to know you’re in a position to help.” Beulah loved politics, and discussion about politics. Beulah graduated in 1935 from Aroostook Central Institute (ACI). She loved sports, especially basketball, which she played with zeal. Beulah loved gardening and fishing and enjoyed her camp at Number Nine Mountain for many years with her husband, Tiny. Beulah also was an animal lover, and had several beloved pets: dogs, Lady, Sheba, and Benji, and her cats, Molly and Tabby. She also loved and appreciated the wildlife that lived on her small farm throughout the many years that she lived there. Beulah, who was a Baptist, always felt blessed to have lived in Blaine, a town that she loved, and in sight of Mars Hill Mountain. In an interview many years ago she said, “I feel like we’re one big family.” Her family will miss her very much. Beulah was predeceased by her brothers, Herschel and Joseph. Her nephew, Russell H. Gillen (whom she and her husband took in when his parents died, and whom she treated like a son) will sadly miss Beulah, as will his wife, Katie (Cotton) Gillen, and their children, Janice Mae Gillen, Laurie R. (Gillen) Cepele and her husband, Rrapush Cepele, and Russell H. Gillen Jr.; her sister, Pauline Gartley and her husband, Myron Gartley, will also miss Beulah; her brother, Henry Gillen and his wife, Jerry, will also miss Beulah; a special niece, Sylvia (Gartley) Smith and her husband, Steve Smith, will also miss Beulah; other nieces and nephews will also miss her, Richard Gillen and his wife, Judy Gillen, Bonnie (Gillen) Wotton and her husband, Earl Wotton, and their children and grandchildren; her nephew, George Gartley and his wife, Marsha Gartley, and their family; and her niece, Sue Gartley and Jeff Carter will also miss Beulah. Friends are invited to visit with the family 2-3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24, 2004, at the Duncan Funeral Home on Main Street in Mars Hill, followed by the funeral services which will be held 3 p.m. and will be officiated by Pastor Lawrence Beals. Interment services will be held at a later time in the spring.
BEULAH MAE VINSONHALER
