Cecilia Marie Heffron

Portland, ME - Cecilia (Pribil) Heffron, 88, died peacefully in Portland, surrounded by her family, on November 2, 2025. Cecilia was born on January 11, 1937, in Bison, Oklahoma. Her favorite memories of her early years were learning how to plant both gardens and crops and take care of the chickens and goats on her family's wheat farm. She grew up during the days when drilling for oil in Oklahoma was a big business and their family had a couple of very small wells on their property. She went on to work for Champlin Refining Company in Enid, Oklahoma where she met her future husband, Duane Heffron. Cecilia and Duane were married in Enid, Oklahoma, on January 21, 1970. She always remembered this day fondly because it "had snowflakes as big as dinner plates," and "so very much ice on the church steps," thus marking the beginning of their lifelong companionship full of love, laughter, and fun.
Her family and friends remember Cecilia as hard-working, silly, loving to cook and sew, and always being ready to help anyone who needed it. She was perhaps best known, however, for having two green thumbs and could literally grow anything in the world, both indoors and outdoors. She even had names for her "babies", her beautiful African Violets. Taking after her mother she always made mountains of food when having people over and encouraged everyone to "pile it on" their plates. She had a crazy saying for everything, including "it's a fur piece" meaning something was far away and "Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb?" if an awkward conversation started to become a quarrel. Those sayings will be remembered forever.
Cecilia was predeceased by her husband, Duane Heffron, her parents, Joseph A. Pribil and Rose (Brauner) Pribil, and her brothers, Rev. Clement E. Pribil, and Vincent E. Pribil. She is survived by her son Thomas Heffron of Rogers, Arkansas, her daughter Mary Phipps of Portland, Maine; grandchildren Daniel Heffron, Matthew Heffron, Katie Smith, and Noah Heffron (children of Thomas and Lisa Heffron), Anna Phipps and Sophie Phipps (children of Robert and Mary Phipps); and great grandchildren Macie Smith and Bennett Smith (children of Katie Smith); Lavender Heffron and Cyrus Heffron (children of Matthew and Bailey Heffron).
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday November 7 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 919 Roosevelt Trail, Windham. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Cecilia's extraordinary life. A graveside service will follow at Mayberry Cemetery in Windham.
Donations may be made in Cecilia's memory to the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, PO Box 10, South Windham ME 04082.