FREEPORT – Lyla Ernestine St. Louis, 87, of Linwood Drive and formerly of Morse Street, died Saturday, May 6, 2006, at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. Lyla was born Aug. 27, 1918, in Bar Harbor, a daughter of Lyle Ernest and Luzetta S. Swazey Smith. She graduated from Bar Harbor High School and furthered her education at the University of Maine at Orono. She worked as a para professional at the Freeport Middle School and taught in that system for more than 30 years. She was a 50-year member of the First Parish Congregational Church in Freeport and was known as a role model in the church meals and church fairs. Mrs. St. Louis served as a Girl Scout leader in Freeport and all her troops earned the “Curved Bar” which is the highest level of Girl Scouting. She also loved painting watercolors of nature and country settings. Lyla wrote a book called “Warden’s Way” which told the story about her father who served as a game warden on Mount Desert Island during the years from World War II through the early 1950’s, and also was Maine’s first flying warden. She was an avid Southwestern enthusiast and made several trips to the White Stallion Ranch in Tucson, Ariz., where she loved riding horses in the desert. From her experience, she became known as a flamboyant dresser in Southwestern style with silver and turquoise. She married Thomas Lewis St. Louis Oct. 9, 1943. He passed away in 1979. Lyla is predeceased by two brothers, Leslie and Robert; and a sister, Harriett Grimaldi. Surviving are her son, William J. St. Louis III and his wife, Linda R., of Rochester Hills, Mich.; her daughter, Jane A. Matthews and her husband, Garry, of Dunstable, Mass.; a sister, Allison Salsbury and her husband, Roland, of Bar Harbor; four grandchildren, Thomas L. Matthews and his wife, Andrea, of Lowell, Mass., Stefanie M. Matthews of Dunstable, Mass., Bradford W. St. Louis and his wife, Cynthia, of Berkley, Mich. and Bethanie L. St. Louis of Madison Heights, Mich.; and a great-grandson, Allan M. Fagundes of Dunstable, Mass.; and several nieces and nephews. Visiting hours will be 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, at the Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal St., Brunswick. Family will receive friends 9-10 a.m. Thursday at the First Parish Congregational Church, Main Street, Freeport, where a funeral will follow at 10 a.m. Burial will be at the Maine Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery, Augusta. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her memory to the Freeport Fire and Rescue, 4 Main St., Freeport, ME 04032, or to the Freeport Masonic Lodge AF & AM., Mallett Drive, Freeport, ME 04032.
LYLA ERNESTINE ST. LOUIS
