MAPLETON – Hilston Thomas Kilcollins passed away Jan. 28, 2012, with his wife, Freda (Foss) Kilcollins, at his side at a Presque Isle nursing home. Hilston was born Oct. 15, 1916, in Westfield, to Ralph and Lydia (Cronkite) Kilcollins, both immigrants from New Brunswick.
Hilston was active in Boy Scouts and attended Presque Isle schools, graduating from Presque Isle High School in 1935, before obtaining a teaching degree from Aroostook Normal School, now the University of Maine at Presque Isle, in 1938. He took a job teaching sixth grade math at the training school on Academy Road, Presque Isle, and in his spare time became a volunteer with the Maine National Guard. During this time he met and courted his sweetheart, Freda Foss of Chapman, who also graduated from the normal school, along with her identical twin sister, Frances, in 1939. When the Guard was mobilized in 1941, Hilston served at first as a mess sergeant, but was transferred to Officer Candidates School, Fort Sill, Okla., after placing first on a division-wide competitive exam. Upon graduation from Officer Candidates School Hilston called Freda on a Sunday, told her he’d be home on Wednesday, and wanted to marry her on Thursday. Luckily for him she said, “Yes.” Hilston and Freda were married at the Foss home in Chapman Thursday, June 25, 1942. This coming June will bring the 70th anniversary of their wedding. Hilston saw action as a forward artillery observer as part of Patton’s 7th Army in the invasion of Sicily, and then as part of Gen. Mark Clark’s 5th Army in the invasion of mainland Italy in the battles of Salerno and Anzio. It was on Patton’s drive across the central mountains of Sicily toward Palermo that Hilston won his first Silver Star, leading a dangerous volunteer mission up into the mountains 10 miles behind German lines to call in American artillery fire to silence a German battery and stop a German infantry advance. In the wake of the battle of Salerno, Hilston received his second award, an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Silver Star, for exposing himself to enemy machine gun fire for the purpose of observing and adjusting artillery fire, making it possible for the Americans to capture a hill near Castelnuovo. During the furious German counterattack at Anzio, while Hilston was directing round-the-clock artillery fire, he received a shrapnel wound in his knee that still set off airport metal detectors decades later; Hilston invariably smiled at the security personnel and explained, “It’s just my ‘souvenir.’” Mustered out of the service in 1946, Hilston came home and put his energies into the Chapman potato farm owned by the father of Freda and Frances, Halsted C. Foss. Hilston was an industrious and innovative farmer, creating one of Aroostook County’s state-of-the-art potato irrigation systems, and growing seed potatoes that were shipped all over the eastern seaboard. Maine Potato Growers paid Hilston to go on speaking engagements in this country and Canada, where he lectured on the benefits of irrigation as it related to potato growing. Hilston took agricultural extension courses from the University of Maine to improve his knowledge and farming practices. Hilston once told an instructor, “I don’t need to know the Latin name for the insect, I just need to know how to kill them.” Hilston and Freda invited Wanda (Clifford) Kaplinger into their home as an 8-year-old and cared for her as a foster child for 10 years, and stayed in touch with Wanda, her children and her grandchildren throughout Wanda’s adult life. A budding inventor, and son of a blacksmith, Hilston often invented equipment to fulfill a need he encountered on his farm and/or changing current equipment to promote greater efficiency. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, traveling every year to Canada for a week to successfully fish for salmon. In the 1960s he was a selectman for the town of Chapman and for many years he was a deacon at United Baptist Church, Mapleton, and also taught Sunday school. The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Phelps of United Baptist Church, Mapleton, has been a close friend and wonderful support to Hilston and Freda for many years, especially in times of need.
Hilston was predeceased by his parents; and his four siblings, Gerald, Ronald, Eleanor Kilcollins Lunn and Alta Kilcollins Clark. Hilston is survived by his wife, Freda; by the children of his sister, Alta, including his nephew, Ralph Clark, his nieces, F. Ann Pelletier, Holly Alley, Hedda Mooney, Penny Gorman and Joan Fournier; by his foster daughter, Wanda Kaplinger and her husband, Christian, her sons, Jesse and Joseph Thomas, her daughter, Sarah, and her five grandchildren; and by Frances’ sons, David and Donald, and their respective children; and by many other loving friends and family members.
A memorial service will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at United Baptist Church, Mapleton. There will be a committal after the memorial service at South Side Cemetery and then a reception back at the church. There will be no visiting hours. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to United Baptist Church, P.O. Box 174, Mapleton, ME 04757. Arrangements in care of Duncan-Graves Funeral Home, 30 Church St., Presque Isle. Condolences may be expressed at
www.duncan-graves.com.
Peace to his memory.