Margaret Fowles Wilde Houston, 98, of Belfast, died Oct. 11 at Waldo County General Hospital, Belfast.
Margaret, the eldest of three children, was born in Belfast at the Virgil Hall Farm on June 13, 1911 to Elmer and Annie Belle Elms Fowles. She attended the Pitcher School. In her teens, having moved to Waldo Avenue with her family, she was a member of the first graduating class at the brand-new Crosby High School. Margaret attended the University of Maine.
Margaret taught high school in Lisbon Falls after graduating from the University of Maine in 1932 with a master’s degree focused on Canadian and Maine history. In 1936 she married Herman E. Wilde. In 1941, they settled in New Jersey with two sons where Herman worked for Merck Chemical Company. Their daughter and third son were born in New Jersey. Herman passed away in 1984.
Margaret returned to the Penobscot Shores Community in 1999 with her second husband Ralph Houston, whom she married in 1988. Ralph passed away in 2000.
Her life has been filled with community activities and organizational contributions. Along with her husband Herman, she was a founding member of the Diamond Hill United Methodist Church in Berkeley Heights, N.J. She has been a member of the First Congregational Church of Westfield, N.J. for 60 years.
While her children were enrolled in the public school system, she was elected to local and county Parent-Teacher Association offices. She turned to further education and earned a second Masters degree in Social Work at Rutgers the State University of N.J., a field to which she became committed for two decades starting in the turbulent 1960s. She worked for social service organizations in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. during the Newark riots.
Following her social work career, she received a New Jersey realtor’s license and sold real estate for nearly ten years. Margaret resettled in her hometown of Belfast in 1999 and has enjoyed finding many connections to her past still there. She served on the Penobscot Shores Board for several years and was active in the University of Maine Alumni Association.
Margaret is survived by her children, Herman E. Wilde IV and partner Dawn Liberman of Albuquerque, N.M., William F. Wilde and wife Ruth of Millbury, Mass., Margaret C. Jiuliano and husband Joseph of Branchburg, N.J., and David E. Wilde and wife Susan of Bernards Township, N.J.; sister, Rachel Tibbetts of Ocala, Fla.; special nephew and friend, Virgil Fowles Jr. of Brooks; many grandchildren, great- and great-great-grandchildren; as well as other nephews and nieces; and friends in Lincoln County.
Family and friends are invited to gather at 11 a.m., Thurs., Oct. 15 at the Penobscot Shores Ocean House Library, 10 Shoreland Dr., Belfast for a celebration of Margaret’s life. A second celebration will be held in June, 2010 on what would have been Margaret’s 99th birthday.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the University of Maine Class of 1932 Winthrop C. Libby Scholarship Fund, University of Maine Alumni Association, One Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469 or Maine Public Television at 1-800-884-1717.
On-line condolences may be placed at www.crabielripostafuneralhome.com.
Arrangements under the care of Crabiel-Riposta Funeral Home, 182 Waldo Ave., Belfast.
