BOWDOIN — Clarence Emery Hilyard, Sr., 88, resident of Bowdoin passed away Sunday, October 14, 2012 at the VA Medical Center in Augusta following a long illness. He was born August 8, 1924 in Fort Fairfield, Maine, a son of Daniel Thomas and Elvira Mae (Emery) Hilyard. He attended schools in Fort Fairfield, Maine, and graduated from Fort Fairfield High School.

Clarence served in the US Navy as a Seabee during World War II.

He was employed for many years as a supervisor for Henkels & McCoy in Pennsylvania, where he created a computer program to estimate job costs for fiber optic networks for hospitals, universities, and other enterprises, until his retirement in 1994.

Clarence was a Master Maine Guide and avid outdoorsman. He and his wife, Glenda, owned and operated Katahdin Lake Camps in Millinocket, Maine, from 1965 to 1970. The years he spent there gave him and his family lasting memories that have reverberated through the generations.

He could do anything, including taxidermy, building boats and cabin cruisers, ship models, and campers. He was an expert horseman and a true Renaissance man.

Clarence will be sadly missed by his large family and his many friends, who all have such fond memories of him.

He was predeceased by his first wife Glenda Irene (Doughty) Hilyard; sisters; Betty (Hilyard) Nash; Dawn (Hilyard) Horton; Mary O. (Hilyard) Look, and one brother, Daniel Thomas Hilyard, Jr.

Survivors include his wife of 9 years Cecelia E. (Flick) Hilyard of Bowdoin, two sons, Clarence E. Hilyard, Jr. of West Cumberland, Maine; David F. Hilyard of Actos, California; two daughters, Judith E. Hilyard of Ashland, Oregon and Wanda M. (Hilyard) Gonzalez and her husband, Gilbert, of San Antonio, Texas; a step-son Laurence Ross of Mapleton, Maine, two step-daughters Elizabeth Basinet of Brunswick, Maine, Julie Arsenault of North Yarmouth, Maine; a sister Elsie Gardner of Nashville, Tennessee; brother-in-law, Ralph D. Look of Addison, Maine; nineteen grandchildren, many great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held at Evergreen Senior Citizens Club, 1 Columbus Drive, Brunswick, Maine at 2:30 PM Friday, October 19, 2012.

Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, Brunswick Chapter, 1 Bowdoin Mill Island, Brunswick, Maine, 04011. Arrangements are through Brackett Funeral Home, Brunswick.

A church funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at Beals Island Wesleyan Church, Beals Island, Maine, followed by a burial at Church Street Cemetery, Addison, Maine.