YARMOUTH - Lincoln Frank Stelk, 87, of Yarmouth, Maine, passed away on June 6, 2022. Lincoln was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 20, 1934 – the hottest day in Chicago history. He was predeceased by his parents, Lincoln Rentner Stelk and Anna Martha Stelk, and his sister Anne Emily Worrell.
Lincoln graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1956, went immediately into the Air Force from ROTC and became a pilot with the Strategic Air Command from 1956-1959. He was commissioned into the Foreign Service and served in the State Department from 1959-1961. It was during his time in the Air Force that Lincoln met the love of his life, Virginia Jo Horn Stelk, during a performance of Handel’s Messiah where he sang in the choir and Virginia played cello in the orchestra. They were happily married to each other for nearly 62 years, enjoying adventures across the globe to Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Australia, China, Peru, Belize, Mexico and more. In 1961, Lincoln entered the seminary and was ordained in the Episcopal Church at the Washington National Cathedral on June 27, 1964, thereafter serving parishes in Washington, D.C., Ohio, and New York State for 34 years. Lincoln was selected as 1 of 200 delegates that were sent to the U.S.S.R. to celebrate the millennium of Christianity with the National Council of Churches.
Lincoln was dedicated to civil rights and was very involved in holocaust studies. He was also very active in ecumenical activities, attending conferences across the U.S. and abroad, and was deeply involved in advocating for women’s’ ordination and in the development of the Book of Common Prayer. Lincoln was an avid recycler and spearheaded community recycling centers in Ohio. Lincoln loved Star Trek, the Cubs, music and singing, animals, mystery books, crosswords, and the ocean – and most of all his family. He was a teaser who laughed easily and loved God’s earth and people deeply.
He is survived by his loving and devoted wife Virginia Jo Horn Stelk, his three children, Kirsten Virginia Stelk Frazier (and her partner James Black), Sara Georgianna Stelk (and son-in-law Christian Anderson), and Marla Josephine Stelk (and daughter-in-law, Shawna Forstrom), and his three grandchildren, Michael Vernon Frazier, Sophie David Lincoln Frazier, and Joshua Curtis Frazier. Lincoln retired in 1998 and moved with Virginia to Peaks Island, Maine in 1999. They moved to Yarmouth, Maine in 2007 and joined the Episcopal family at St. Mary’s church in Falmouth, his final resting place.
Family and friends are invited to attend a memorial service on Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 11:00 AM at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary’s, 43 Foreside Rd. Falmouth.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Episcopal Church of St. Mary at 43 Foreside Road, Falmouth, ME 04105 (207-781-3366) or online at www.smary.org.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.LindquistFuneralHome.com for the Stelk family.
