Stanley Patrick Kuklinski

1940-2014

Stanley Patrick Kuklinski, of Farmington, Maine, passed away at the Hospice House in Auburn, on Wednesday, September 24, 2014, from the aftereffects of a stroke he suffered nearly a year ago.

Stan was born in Utica, New York, on October 24, 1940, the son of Bernice Tarkowski Jasiewicz and Stanislaw Jasiewicz. His parents divorced when he was very young and Bernice married Eugene Kuklinski, who remained Stan's father for the rest of his life. Stan graduated from Utica Free Academy, excelling in baseball, bowling and other sports. He took some college courses and then became a contractor, building dozens of homes in the Utica area, including a new house for his parents.

Stan married Mary Ann Laun of Utica in October 1964. The couple moved to Connecticut where Stan was in charge of new construction for Agway. Later he worked in the shoe industry as a distributor for Griswold Rubber Company, traveling throughout the Northeast. In 1981 Stan and Mary Ann pursued their lifelong love of tennis and moved to Lewiston where together they operated the Central Maine Racquet Club, hosting many matches, tennis camps for children and community tennis lessons. Mary Ann died of cancer in early 1984, leaving Stan to care for their five young daughters. That year, while giving tennis lessons, Stan met and fell in love with then District Attorney Janet Mills. They married in August of 1985. The family lived in Wilton for 12 years and Stan became a real estate developer, building vacation homes and marketing parcels of rural land throughout western Maine. Once the girls were grown, Stan and Janet moved to the old Mallory Farm on South Strong Road, where they raised standardbred horses, and, later, to Janet's hometown of Farmington.

In the 1980s Stan was appointed by Gov. Joseph Brennan to the Maine Athletic Commission, ultimately serving as its Chair. In 2004, Gov. John Baldacci appointed him to the Maine Harness Racing Commission, where Stan acted on his passion for harness racing, making sure that the rules were enforced for the safety of both the drivers and their beautiful animals.

In recent years Stan rejuvenated the men's tennis program at Mt. Blue High School. For seven years he coached the school's Men's Tennis Team, mentoring dozens of young men and teaching both the novices and the experienced players to just "hit the ball over the net one more time."

Stan loved the people of his adopted hometown of Farmington. He could regularly be seen in town, talking politics and engaging with people at the post office before having coffee at Dunkin 'Donuts and getting his hair cut at Bob Morgan's. He was passionate about the Red Sox and the Patriots. His drive on the golf course was long off the tee.

Stan is survived by his wife, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, of Farmington, his five daughters and three grandsons: Alison Kuklinski Nelson and husband Richard Nelson of Old Forge, New York; Coleen Kuklinski Lehigh and husband Keith and their sons Zachary and Hayden of Saco, Maine; Tammy Kuklinski Viles and son Wyatt Viles of Strong, Maine; Kristen Kuklinski of Derby, Connecticut; Lisl Kuklinski May and husband Patrick May of Portland, Maine; several aunts and uncles, and a half-brother and half-sister in New York State.

He was predeceased by his first wife, their infant daughter, Ingrid; his parents, his in-laws and his brother, Robert Kuklinski.

Family and friends are invited to memorial visitation on Thursday evening Oct. 2, from 6-8 p.m. at the Wiles Remembrance Center, 137 Farmington Falls Road, (Routes 2 & 27) Farmington. Public memorial services will be held Friday, Oct. 3, at 1 p.m. from the Center, 137 Farmington Falls Road, Farmington. Private family committal services will be held at Fairview Cemetery, Farmington. Remembrance gifts may be to either Mt. Blue High School 129 Seamon Road, Farmington 04938 Att.: Athletic Dept. (for the purposes of the Mt. Blue Men's Tennis Team), or to the Hospice House, c/o AHCH 15 Strawberry Ave.. Lewiston 04240. Tributes and condolences may be shared on his memorial wall at www.wilesrc.com, where his memorial tribute video will be able to be viewed, beginning on Thursday.