KITTERY, MAINE — Elaine Rehm, 85, peacefully passed away on April 18, 2012 in Portsmouth, N.H. She had lived approximately 40 years in Holyoke, Mass., and 30 years in Naples and Kittery.

Born May 22, 1926 in Bristol, N.H., she gradu-ated from Traip Academy in Kittery in 1943 and married her high school sweet-heart that year.Elaine was a life member of Eastern Star, and a member of the Red Hat Society in Naples. She founded the “Snow Birds” Red Hat group and a craft group at Surfside Beach, S.C., where she and her husband wintered for 21 years.

She was a longtime member of Second Congregational Church in Holyoke, Mass., where she served on many boards and committees.

Elaine was predeceased by her husband of 62 years, Walter Rehm, son Glen Rehm, sister Marilyn Picott, and nephew David Fuller.She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Judith and Robert Knowlton of Acton, Mass., nieces Susan Bradeen and her husband Roland of Rochester, N.H., and Barbara Gaines and her husband John of Lafayette Tenn., and by her nephew Robert Fuller of Somersworth, N.H. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Kirsten Hanson and her husband Scott of St. Augustine Fla., Gregory Rehm and his wife Heather of Seattle Wash., Laurie Rehm Skinner and her husband James of Summerville S.C., Caroline Rose and her husband Daniel of Kittery, and Kimberly Knowlton-Young and her husband Adam of Greensboro, Vt. Elaine is also survived by eight great-grandchildren, Jacob and Brian Hanson, Soleil, Camilla, and Hunter Skinner, Walter and Patrick Rose, and Eliza and Bodhi Knowlton-Young. She is also survived by her dearest friends, Rejane Patterson of Kittery, Karleen Shea of West Holyoke, Mass., and Mary Walsh of Binghamton, N.Y.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Shriner’s Hospital of your choice or to Shriner’s Hospital for Children, 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104, or to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. A 1 p.m. memorial service for Elaine will be held at the Meetinghouse Chapel in Kittery, Maine on May 26, 2012.Care for Elaine and her family has been entrusted to the J.S. Pelkey Funeral Home, Kittery, Maine.