EAST FRYEBURG — Winnifred Pearl (Hiersche) Kiesman passed away peacefully Dec. 15, 2011.

Winnie was born on Sept. 14, 1920 in Ludlow, Mass., the daughter of the late Albert D. and Pearl (Goodell) Hiersche. She was a graduate of Ludlow High School. Before marriage, she was a bookkeeper and proofreader at the stationery/print shop, A. H. Bartlett Co., in Ludlow, Mass.

On May 23, 1944, she married Laurence “Larry” Kiesman of Fryeburg. Larry was in the Air Force during World War 11, and Winnie accompanied him during his next 24 years of military service, except for the one year he spent in Thailand during the Vietnam War. She spent that year with their two children in Springfield, Mass., to be near her parents.

Winnie was a homemaker after marriage, living the life of a military wife and mother. She had many homes during that time. They lived in: Lawrenceville, Ill.; Austin, Texas; Tacoma, Wash.; San Angelo, Texas; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Aurora, Colo.; Anchorage, Alaska, where they drove up and back with their two children, then a son, 6 years old, and a daughter, 2 years old, on the Al-Can Highway.

From Alaska, they moved to Fairborn, Ohio and lived there six years before Larry spent a year in Thailand.  After Thailand, they returned again to Fairborn, where he was reassigned to Wright Patterson AFB.

They made many auto trips over those years to visit their parents and family and after retirement made trips across country to visit family and friends. After Larry’s retirement in 1968, they moved to Fryeburg, where he built their house on the banks of the Saco River. Winnie accompanied Larry to Augusta when he was the Maine State Representative for six years.  She attended every legislative session those six years.  She really enjoyed learning all about how the legislature is run and attended every day it was in session. She was a member and officer of the Fryeburg Woman’s Library Club (serving as secretary and trustee), the Extension Club, the Saco Valley Garden Club, and served as secretary of the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Association.

Winnie was predeceased by Larry, her husband of 60 years, as well as her parents, Pearl and Albert Hiersche of Ludlow, Mass.; a brother, Dexter Hiersche of Ludlow, Mass.

She is survived by a son, Terry Kiesman of Attleboro, Mass.; a daughter Becky Leonard of Salida, Colo.; two granddaughters and a grandson; a great-grandson; sisters, Ida Long of Pine Grove, Pa. and Erna Manchester of Ithaca, NY.; a brother, George Hiersche of Ludlow, Mass.

A memorial graveside service at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Denmark will be held in the spring.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made in memory of Winnie to Fryeburg Rescue, P.O. Box 177, Fryeburg, ME 04037.

Arrangements are with Wood Funeral Home of Fryeburg. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.woodfuneralhome.org