Linda Keeffe, BHTNH Logistics & Volunteer Coordinator (1942 -2022)
Linda Keeffe of 10 Wood Avenue, Eliot, Maine, passed away January 11, 2022 at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, following a long battle with her health. She faced her last days with great courage and a positive outlook.
Born November 7, 1942, Linda grew up and attended schools in Athol, Massachusetts. She graduated from Bates College in 1964 with a B.S. in biology and married Allan Pollock the same year. She taught high school biology, then helped to curate the historic microscope collection at Harvard University. In 1969, Linda and Allan moved to Colorado Springs. Years after Allan and Linda parted, she married widower Richard Keeffe, joining his family of four children. She maintained an active lifestyle – stepmother to 4 children, full-time work in IT at Kaman Sciences, training for marathons, earning a master’s degree in substance abuse counseling, and eventually running a counseling business. An expert seamstress, she also owned a business making fleece clothing and many other items. She gave enormous commitment and energy to all that she did. In over 30 years of running, she participated in 28 marathons in cities across the country, often finishing first in her age group. She was an avid mountain biker, not only in Colorado and Wyoming but through New Zealand and Ireland as well.
In 2007, Linda returned to New England and settled in Eliot, Maine. For two years, she was the recording secretary for the Elliot Board of Appeals. But Linda’s primary interest was always working more directly and personally with others. She found deeper expression of her passion and talents in two major organizations in Portsmouth: South Church and the Black Heritage Trail. She loved the mission and membership of these organizations and contributed extensive volunteer work to both for many years. At South Church – Unitarian Universalist in Portsmouth, she was a Fellowship Associate, Pastoral Associate many times, Social Justice Associate, and member of Covenant Groups. She was also often a volunteer for hospitality and kitchen help at church events. The Black Heritage Trail recently honored her with an award for her service as Volunteer Coordinator.
Linda is predeceased by her parents, George and Aaria Corkum of Southwest Harbor, Maine. She leaves her sister and brother-in-law, Carole and Cody Cartnick of Dover, New Hampshire, and two cousins, Sharon King and Laurel Howard of Orange, Massachusetts.
Linda will be missed for her thoughtfulness, commitment to others, witty comments, and love of language. She especially enjoyed animals, sewing, reading, classical music, and live theater in Portsmouth.
Her sister and brother-in-law extend enormous gratitude to doctors and nurses at Portsmouth Regional Hospital and to Beacon Hospice Portsmouth for their loving care of Linda and her sister.
Arrangements will be made in the near future for a gathering at South Church to honor her. If desired, memorial contributions can be made to either South Church at 292 State Street, Portsmouth or to the Black Heritage Trail of NH at 222 Court Street, Portsmouth.
Frank Anthony Joseph Cilluffo
Frank Cilluffo passed away peacefully on January 2, 2022 at his home at Sturgeon Cove Farm in Eliot Maine. Always pulling for the underdog, Frank devoted much of his time advocating for minority groups and supporting the arts. It’s only natural that the Black Heritage Trail of NH was selected by the family to receive memorial gifts.
In 1993 Frank and his wife Irja made a gift to the Greater Piscataqua Community Foundation of NHCF that established the GPCF Diversity Committee and opened a dialog that initiated cultural and art projects to celebrate Portsmouth’s diverse history. Through this project Frank and Irja hoped to stimulate conversation, to celebrate Portsmouth’s truer history, and to promote an appreciation and value for the city’s diverse citizenry.
The Committee, chaired by Irja Cilluffo, identified sponsorship opportunities including a production at The Players’ Ring of Jerome Kilty’s play Look Away, a two-women drama about the relationship between free Black dress designer Elizabeth Keckley and her patron Mary Todd Lincoln; a residency in local schools by Facing History and Ourselves to promote students’ historical knowledge through critical thinking and empathy; and a performance at The Music Hall and then at Representatives Hall in the New Hampshire State House by The Hallelujah Singers promoting Gullah culture and traditions through song and story. This marked the occasion of the holiday about to be named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.
Frank and Irja opened their Pleasant Street home to the Committee and its guests, hosting a reception for The Hallelujah Singers that gave those who gathered a preview of what they would later hear at the evening performance. Not long after, they opened their doors again to three Kings visiting Portsmouth from her Sister City Kitase in Ghana.
The most noteworthy legacy project of the Committee was the funding of a Black history curriculum guide for Seacoast schools and libraries that was then edited by Mark Sammons and Valerie Cunningham and published by University Press of New England as Black Portsmouth: Three Centuries of African American History. Immediately after that publication the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail emerged as a vibrant non-profit organization, making Portsmouth’s Black history visible on dozens of elegant bronze makers all over downtown Portsmouth. The early success of the Trail was due in part to connections made through that first Cilluffo grant and the expanded network of concerned friends and patrons that evolved from it.
In 1993 Frank and his wife Irja made a gift to the Greater Piscataqua Community Foundation of NHCF that established the GPCF Diversity Committee and opened a dialog that initiated cultural and art projects to celebrate Portsmouth’s diverse history. Through this project, Frank and Irja hoped to stimulate conversation, celebrate Portsmouth’s truer history, and promote an appreciation and value for the city’s diverse citizenry.
The Committee, chaired by Irja Cilluffo, identified sponsorship opportunities including a production at The Players’ Ring of Jerome Kilty’s play Look Away, a two-women drama about the relationship between free Black dress designer Elizabeth Keckley and her patron Mary Todd Lincoln; a residency in local schools by Facing History and Ourselves to promote students’ historical knowledge through critical thinking and empathy; and a performance at The Music Hall and then at Representatives Hall in the New Hampshire State House by The Hallelujah Singers promoting Gullah culture and traditions through song and story. This marked the occasion of the holiday about to be named for Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.
Frank and Irja opened their Pleasant Street home to the Committee and its guests, hosting a reception for The Hallelujah Singers that gave those who gathered a preview of what they would later hear at the evening performance. Not long after, they opened their doors again to three Kings visiting Portsmouth from her Sister City Kitase in Ghana.
The most noteworthy legacy project of the Committee was the funding of a Black history curriculum guide for Seacoast schools and libraries that was then edited by Mark Sammons and Valerie Cunningham and published by University Press of New England as Black Portsmouth: Three Centuries of African American History. Immediately after that publication the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail emerged as a vibrant non-profit organization, making Portsmouth’s Black history visible on dozens of elegant bronze makers all over downtown Portsmouth. The early success of the Trail was due in part to connections made through that first Cilluffo grant and the expanded network of concerned friends and patrons that evolved from it.
