Irma L. (Cleaves) Hess

HOLDEN – Irma L. (Cleaves) Hess, 95, passed away peacefully on Monday, December 9, 2019, at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, in Worcester, Massachusetts, after a short illness. She was born in Haynesville, Maine, to Elbridge and Orice (Gilpatrick) Cleaves, and had lived in Penfield, New York, and Haynesville, Maine, for most of her life before moving to Holden in 2008.

After graduating from East Providence High School in Rhode Island, Irma worked as a legal secretary until she started her family. At age 40, Irma entered college, earning her Associate degree at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, and in 1974, at age 50, her Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the College at Brockport, State University of New York (SUNY). She was an elementary school teacher at Penfield Central School in New York until her retirement and during that time earned her Master’s degree at SUNY Brockport.

Irma was active in church throughout her lifetime, sharing her faith with others and serving as a teacher and church leader, including licensure as a Lay Speaker with the United Methodist Church (UMC). She and and her husband Arthur were members of the Houlton, Maine, UMC for many years. Most recently, Irma attended both Wesley UMC in Salem, Massachusetts, where she held membership, and Immanuel Lutheran Church in Holden, Massachusetts.

Irma was a skilled fiber artist, an accomplished weaver, and loved teaching her art to others. She was a founding member of the Border Weavers and the Weaving Guild in Weston, Maine. Irma enjoyed spending time with her family, reading, and held a fond interest in geology.

Her loving husband of 61 years, Arthur B. Hess, passed away in 2009. She leaves her daughters: Katharine O. H. Mills and her husband, Gregory, of Holden, and Laura C. H. Savage and her husband, the Rev. Arthur Savage, of Franklin, New Hampshire, and Salem, Massachusetts; five grandchildren: Jeremiah Savage and his wife, Heather Matthews; Bryan Mills and his wife, Stephanie; Erin Ellis and her husband, Todd; Jessica Savage and her husband, Dustin Haines; and Sara Kern and her husband, Frank; and eight great-grandchildren: Ashlin Savage, Molly Ellis, Gabriel Ellis, Rowan Savage, Emmett Mills, Neil Haines, Magnolia Kern, and Finnegan Kern; as well as extended family. She was predeceased by her three brothers and four sisters.

A memorial service for Irma will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 29, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 346 Shrewsbury Street, Holden, Massachusetts. Burial will be held next June at Riverside Cemetery in Haynesville, Maine. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: LUNGevity Foundation 228 S. Wabash Ave., Suite 700 Chicago, Il 60604 (Please indicate “EGFR Resisters- The Irma Hess Memorial Fund” on check) or donate on-line at https://LUNGevity.donordrive.com/EGFR-research , participant: “Irma Hess”.

Arrangements are under the care of the Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main Street, Holden.

To share a memory or offer an online condolence, please visit "The Tribute Wall."