Kathryn Million Cheever

PORTLAND – Kathryn left our lives on Monday evening after a short illness.

Born on a farm in Pocahontas, Ark., eighth out of nine kids, she lived a very colorful life. Studying by lamplight until her home got electricity while in high school, she was the first in her family to go to college. She got her associate degree at Arkansas State College and her first teaching job was in a one-room school house in the community where she was raised. She moved to St. Louis, Mo. to teach and met her future husband, Wilbur “Bill” Cheever there. From there she followed Bill to Madrid, Spain, while he was in the Air Force.

Moving back to the states and civilian life took them to brief stops in Bethlehem, Pa., and Baltimore, Md. Leaving there, they settled in Wethersfield, Conn., where both Wilbur Jr. and Suzanne were born and raised. They spent 20 years in Elmhurst, Ill., before retiring to Freeport in 2004, where her son built her the salt box home she always wanted.

The family would like to thank the staff at Maine Medical Center for their compassionate care all the way from the emergency room through palliative care. Kathryn will be with her husband, Bill, who left our lives two years prior.

She leaves behind a sister, Shirley Johnson; two children; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.