CHEBEAGUE ISLAND — Eleanor “Ellie” Canavan Hill, 94, died on March 11 at Island Commons on Chebeague.

She was born in Portland on July 31, 1917, to Ellen Hall and Joseph P. Canavan. She was the eldest and last survivor of five children. 

She was educated at Cummings School and graduated from Portland High School in 1935. After raising her family, she attended Northeastern University in Boston where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1967. 

In September of 1935 she married Franklin M. Hill of Chebeague Island, and together they had three daughters and made their first home on Chebeague before settling in Malden, Mass. Franklin died in 1968.

She was very active in Girl Scouting, representing the local council at a jamboree in Bogota, Columbia. She was first employed as a sales clerk at W.T. Grants and went to become secretary to the president at First National Bank of Malden. 

After she retired, Hill served as secretary at her daughter’s dance studio where she performed with the adult tap and jazz dance group until the age of 80. In 1999 she again retired, this time to Chebeague where she was active in the Ladies Aid, group exercise at the Island Commons and golf.

Hill is survived by her three daughters, Sandra Rice and her husband, Malcolm, of Chebeague Island and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, Susan West and her husband, Richard, of Kennebunkport, Rochelle McDonald of North Andover, Mass.; seven grandchildren; 13 great grandchildren; and a large extended family and cadre of friends.

Visiting hours were held on March 15 at Lindquist Funeral Home, 1 Mayberry Ln., Yarmouth. Burial will take place later this spring on Chebeague Island.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Hill’s memory to Island Commons, 132 Littlefield Road, Chebeague Island, ME 04017.

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