Rangeley High School - Tattler Yearbook (Rangeley, ME)

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ELIHU B. TILTON Principal of Rangeley High School 1927-1947 Goahs jqngers touched him and be slept Life? race Well run, Life? Work well done, Life? victory won, Now cometh rest. Q

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DEDICATIUN To the Memory of Elihu B. Tilton Who dedicated twenty years of his life to serving with distinction the youth of Rangeley High School as its beloved Principal, and whose recent untimely passing We profoundly mourn, We dedicate this, the thirty-fourth issue of the Tattler.

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The TATTLER fTRIBUTES TO MR. TILTONJ Elihu Blaine Tilton passed away March 14, 1950, after being seriously ill since the preceding August, when he suffered a paralytic stroke, from the effects of which he never recovered. Ill health having forced him to surrender his duties as Principal of Rangeley High School in September, 1947, he recovered sufficiently to enable him to enjoy life at his country home in Albion, Maine, the following summer, tending his garden and faithfully following the big league baseball games from a radio grandstand seat. The following winter he and Mrs. Tilton spent in Florida, returning to Albion in the spring. Prior to his seizure that summer he was planning a trip to Rangeley to visit old friends and acquaintances, but Fate stepped in and subjected him to what was to prove a long and tortured illness. The order of his life cer- tainly did not merit his being struck out in this way, and of his passing we can in all justifica- tion truly say, Death, be not proud. At the funeral service the faculty was represented by Mr. Clarence Lamb, the Senior Class, the last taught by Mr. Tilton, by Patricia Tibbettsg his earlier classes by Mr. and Mrs. john Kidder. Classes, faculty, and Alumni and friends sent floral tributes. Born at Knox, Maine, July 18, 1884, he was the son of Samuel G. and Martha Vose Tilton. He attended schools in that town and at Free- dom Academy prepared for college. He at- tended Colby College, where he worked his way through, and was graduated in 1908. While at Colby, he was an outstanding second base- man on the famed championship nine which was captained by John W. Coombs, who later played for the Philadelphia Athletics. Before coming to Rangeley, Mr. Tilton had taught and coached at Hebron Academy, Win- slow, Caribou, and other schools in the State. He was a member of the Central Lodge of Ma- sons at China, Past President of the Franklin County Teacher's Association, and Past Presi- dent of the Franklin County Schoolmen's Club. He was a delegate to the National Education Association at San Fransisco several years ago, he and Mrs. Tilton making the transcontinental trip by car. In basketball circles in the county, he was recognized as a coach of more than or- dinary ability who always had an excellent team on the floor, one that reflected at all times the good sportsmanship and love of the game which he fostered in them. In the passing of Mr. Tilton, humanity has sustained an irreparable loss. His si.ngular vi- sion and intelligent and sympathetic apprecia- tion of the manifold problems of Rangeley High School made him an ideal leader. His untiring devotion to the school and to those committed to his guidance, his sound judgment in shaping and forming its policies, his great sympathy for the underprivileged were all outstanding char- acteristics which make his loss, even after three years retirement, deeply felt not alone in our school and among its alumni, but in the entire community. For twenty years as the guiding head of Rangeley High School, he served it with selfless devotion and boundless enthusiasm. In every cause he served, he imbued his work and his associates with an ever present spirit of human kindness, of vision, of courage, of un- selfish loyalty. His kindliness and humility in- spired in his associates a deep and abiding affec- tion. All who were privileged to be under his guidance or to be counted as one of his friends will sorely miss him and will always treasure the memory of their contact with him. To Mrs. Tilton and to the surviving members of his family we extend our wholehearted sympathy. After twenty years of association with Mr. Elihu Tilton, it is not hard to express on paper the feeling of satisfaction and personal pleasure I enjoyed during all these years. Mr. Tilton was one of those people who did not look at the clock but always worked beyond the call of duty. Whenever one of his pupils achieved success, he always took personal pleasure. On the other hand, when one of his pupils made a mistake, he was quickly forgiven. Page Six