Constance “Connie” Engelke Skov, 71, of Waldoboro, died Nov. 3 at the family farm.
She was born Aug. 16, 1935 in Hempstead, N.Y., daughter of Conrad John and Anna Christina (Hansen) Engelke; Anna died shortly after childbirth. Conrad was remarried to Martha (Kopf) Engelke.
While Connie was a child, the family lived on their 300-acre farm in upstate New York with 130 dairy cows. By the time she was a teenager, Connie was driving the team of horses, the tractors, the farm truck and the car. She had many 4-H projects, and enjoyed riding and showing her saddle horses.
She graduated from Cornell University and later from Boston College with a Masters degree in geological science.
On Sept. 10, 1960, she married Valdemar A. Skov in Hobart, N.Y. The couple resided in Wayland, Mass., where she was employed by Polaroid Corporation, and the Wayland School Department. In addition to raising three sons, she was active in the League of Women Voters, and the Soil Conservation Service.
In 1976, she relocated to Waldoboro on Roseacre Farm. She and her husband and conscript sons developed a thriving small farm with market gardens, livestock and most notably, black sheep, Scotch Highland cattle and geese.
During the winter months she was a substitute teacher at Medomak Valley High School. Connie was an active member of the Waldoboro United Methodist Church; she belonged to MOFGA, the Maine Quilters, Maine Sheep Breeders, and the American Highland Cattle Association. She was a founding member of both the Damariscotta and Waldoboro Farmers’ Market and was a market vendor for twenty years. She also enjoyed sewing, knitting, spinning, quilting, hiking, cycling, painting and recreational gardening.
Connie participated in the pastoral visitor program sponsored by Penobscot Bay Medical Center and made many friends at Fieldcrest Manor in Waldoboro.
In addition to her husband of more than 46 years, Connie is survived by three sons, Valdemar and wife Cathrina of Waldoboro, Erik and wife Sandra of Coventry, R.I., and Conrad and wife Susan of Londonderry, N.H.; and six grandchildren, Brynna, Aidan, Sarah, Benjamin, Haley and Annika.
Service to celebrate Connie’s life 1 p.m., Sat., Nov. 11 at the Waldoboro United Methodist Church, Friendship St., Waldoboro. The Reverend Joseph Beardsley will officiate.
Interment will be in the Old German Protestant Cemetery, Bremen Rd., Waldoboro.
Arrangements are under the direction of Coast of Maine Cremation and Funeral Service, Waldoboro.
Should friends so desire, donations may be made in Connie’s memory to Heifer Project International, P.O. Box 8058, Little Rock, AR 72203, or Habitat for Humanity, 121 Habitat St., Americus, GA 31709-3498.
