San Diego, CA - Estella Ruth McKittrick, 84 years old, died peacefully in her sleep at home on February 26, 2012. She was born in Portland, ME on July 26, 1927. Upon graduation from Gorham State Teachers College with a specialty in early childhood education, she joined a growing wave of young women and left home and hearth, taking her first teaching position in Connecticut.

From there, she moved to Mount Vernon, New York, met and married Dr. John. R. McKittrick, moved to Fort Lee, NJ, and had three daughters, Joanna, Lisa, and Marcia. In 1961, the family moved to Pueblo, Colorado. Estella eventually went back to work, taking a First Grade teaching position at Parkview Elementary School. She was considered a "master" teacher, and consequently the most difficult children where placed in her classroom. While teaching full time and raising a family as a single mother, she earned her Masters degree in Education at Southern Colorado State College in 1974. She continued to take classes to improve herself and her classroom until her retirement. She believed in both the classical teaching styles and in the new approaches - she felt some students benefited from one approach, other students from an alternative approach. She got to know each and every student and made sure that the right tools and curriculum were offered to each. She always loved her students and worked hard for all of them, though, come May, she could be spied in her "Is it June yet?" tee-shirt. Yet, by August, a full month before school, she would be back in her classroom, readying her materials and her bulletin boards.

After she retired from teaching in 1999, she moved to Edison, NJ to be closer to family and eventually moved to San Diego, CA to live with her daughter Joanna. Estella was very active in her church and community. She took numerous leadership positions in her church including teaching Sunday School. She was also very active in P.E.O, both in Pueblo, CO and in Edison, NJ. She held many posts, including Hospitality, President, and Chaplain.

Predeceased by her sister and brother-in-law, Virginia and David Bicknell; Estella is survived by her daughters Joanna McKittrick, Lisa Cleveland, and Marcia Hodulik, her son-in-law Bill Cleveland, and her grandchildren Spencer Cleveland, Elizabeth Cleveland, Nichelle Hodulik, Reid Cleveland, and Evan Hodulik. She is also survived by nieces and nephews all of whom she dearly loved. She, in turn, is beloved by all of us.

A celebration of her life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, May 26, 2012 at Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home, 110 Limerock Street, Rockland. Interment will follow at Achorn Cemetery, Old County Road. All are invited to a reception at the Samoset following the interment.

To share a memory or condolence with Estella’s family, please visit her online Book of Memories at www.bchfh.com.