Elizabeth Wiley, a former educator at Cape Elizabeth High School who loved to teach and talk about books, died Monday after a period of declining health. She was 73.
Mrs. Wiley was remembered this week as a dedicated teacher whose door was always open for students. At the time of her death, she was an instructor at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Southern Maine.
Elizabeth Wiley Family photo
She was an AP English teacher at Cape Elizabeth High School from 1981 to 1995. Her daughter, Martha Wiley of Gorham, said Wiley made an impression on many students, including her. When she was a senior at Cape Elizabeth High in 1994, Martha Wiley was stuck taking her mother’s English class.
“She said, ‘If you attend my class, you have to call me Ms. Wiley. Don’t call me mom,’ ” her daughter recalled. “Well, that didn’t work very well. I kept slipping and calling her mom. By the end of the school year, all the students called her mom. The students loved her. My friends who graduated with me said she was one of the best teachers they ever had, and that they learned so much. She made such an impression on them.”
Mrs. Wiley graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in English and speech in 1969. She later continued her education and completed a class called, “Teachers for Secondary School,” offered through the University of Southern Maine in 1980.
Her teaching career began at Deering High School in Portland. In 1981, she was hired as a substitute teacher at Catherine McAuley High School. At the same time, she pursued a master’s degree in education at the University of Southern Maine, graduating in 1984. She taught AP English at Cape Elizabeth High School for 14 years until 1995.
She was married to Peter Wiley for 37 years. He died in 2006 after suffering a heart attack while playing golf in Florida. He was 59.
“When my father passed away, it took a huge chunk out of her,” their daughter said.
Mrs. Wiley was remembered by her daughter as a strong and resilient woman. She said her mother was a rock in the lives of both her and her daughter Grace.
“She was the person Grace would go to when she was having problems and needed to talk with someone when she felt as though she couldn’t talk to me,” Martha Wiley said. “My mother was there for everybody and anybody.”
In 1997, Mrs. Wiley entered the doctoral program at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and graduated with her doctorate in American studies in 2005.
In 2011, she became an instructor at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at USM. She taught four “New 21st century novels” classes each semester. At the time of her death, her class was reading “Disappearing Earth,” a novel by Julia Phillips. The class had read up to page 443.
Her daughter said the class gathered virtually through Zoom on Monday and learned her mother had died. She said her students spent the class talking about her and all they learned.
Elizabeth Wiley Family photo
“She loved teaching,” her daughter said. “She looked forward to teaching and talking about books.”
Mrs. Wiley lived in Portland and had a collection of hundreds of books. Her daughter said she also had a collection of more than 1,000 balls of yarn in her apartment.
“She knit all the time,” her daughter said.
Throughout the pandemic, Mrs. Wiley met with her book club every Saturday through Zoom. Her daughter said the group had breakfast together and talked about the books they read.
“These women were her lifeline during COVID,” her daughter said.
Mrs. Wiley had a period of declining health. Her daughter said she had congestive heart failure and was admitted to Maine Medical Center. While there, she tested positive for COVID-19. Her daughter said she beat the virus and was transported to St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Residence in Portland, where she died.
“She lived her life to its fullest,” her daughter said. “She kept going. She had no cares in the world. She knew that people would be sad when she passed, but also knew we would be OK and that life would carry on. She was an extraordinary woman who knew exactly what she wanted and went for it. Now, she is with my father and she is happy.”
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