Serena Lowe Huling Sill

She was born in Mounds, Oklahoma, on January 10, 1912, a few years after Oklahoma became a state and when Mounds was a booming oil town. Her father, Albert Huling, managed a Clothiers and Furnishers store in Mounds but died in 1914 at age 36 leaving his wife, Alice, aged 39,to care for her three young girls Altha, Marie and Serena. Alice moved to Montreal, working as an auditor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and remained there until Serena was in her teens. On a number of occasions due to economic necessity as she grew up, Serena lived away from her mother, going to boarding schools and living as a border with other families. The family eventually moved to Rochester, New York, where Alice worked as an auditor at a hotel and according to the 1930 census lived in an apartment with her three girls. To save money Serena moved in with the Sill family and it was there that she met Fred Sill, one of four Sill brothers who worked at Eastman Kodak.

On September 7, 1940, Serena married Fred Sill at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Rochester, New York. They had one daughter, Jacqueline Ann. For the next 36 years they had a marriage that centered around family, friends, church, travelling, and the Eastman Kodak Company. Fred eventually was promoted to management positions at Eastman Kodak and was transferred in 1970 to the new Kodak plant in Windsor, Colorado, where he was facilities manager. Serena was a significant partner, always there behind the scenes taking care of what needed to be done to support his demanding management career. A year after he retired from Kodak, Fred died of cancer, and so from 1977 until 2006 when she moved to Edgewater, Maryland she lived on her own in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Serena filled her life with volunteering and with bowling. She was known throughout Ft. Collins as a faithful volunteer: working in the church office at Our Savior Lutheran Church, serving Meals on Wheels for 30 years, and accumulating over 14,000 hours with the blood bank and other areas at the Poudre Valley Hospital. She was honored by Denver television Channel 7 as an “Every Day Hero” for her volunteer work in the community. In addition, her home was a destination for her daughter and son-in-law and their children for many summers, when they would come to her beautiful home by a lake near the foothills and where they enjoyed swimming, hiking, fishing and relaxing with Grandma. Serena was also an avid bowler and along with her close friend, Jean Walsh, bowled each week and went on senior bowling tournament trips throughout the United States.

In 2006 she moved to Edgewater, Maryland to live with her daughter, Jacqueline, and son-in-law, Hollis. She faithfully volunteered at the church office at Joy Reigns Lutheran Church until shortly before her death. She enjoyed her last few years by keeping up a schedule of her own: reading the newspapers, doing crossword puzzles, watching her favorite quiz shows, reading mystery novels, doing chores around the house, and volunteering at church.

She is survived by her daughter, Jacqueline, son-in-law, Hollis, three grandchildren Jason Thoms, Sonja Winkler and Jonas Thoms, and four great-grandchildren. A memorial service for Serena will be held at 2:00 pm on March 21 at Joy Reigns Lutheran Church, 35 Mayo Road, Edgewater, Maryland. Memorial gifts should be sent to benefit the Joy Reigns Lutheran Church music program.