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The father and daughter who died hiking on Mount Katahdin in Maine earlier this month are being remembered by their loved ones for being “full of life” and “full of joy.”
The bodies of Tim Keiderling, 58, and his daughter, 28-year-old Ester Keiderling, both of Ulster Park, New York, were found near the summit of Mount Katahdin on June 3 and 4, respectively. Park rangers began searching for the father and daughter June 2 after finding their car still in the Baxter State Park day-use parking lot.
Tim Keiderling’s body was found following a massive search on Tuesday, with searchers locating Ester Keiderling’s remains a day later.
Heinrich Arnold, Tim Keiderling’s brother-in-law, said in a statement on Facebook that the father and daughter encountered “terrible” weather, which they succumbed to overnight.
“They were doing a day hike, a bucket list thing, to climb this amazing mountain,” he said. “Both wonderful people, full of life, full of joy.”
According to the obituary for the father and daughter, both were members of the Bruderhof religious group, an international Christian community focused on communal living.
In the obituary, loved ones wrote that Tim Keiderling was “an avid outdoorsman” who “loved bee-keeping, camping, and hiking” and worked in his community as an elementary school teacher, financial administrator, and traveling salesman.
“As a teacher, he will be remembered most for his infectious energy, his patient kindness, and his ability to pull together the most rambunctious groups of children,” the obituary reads. “He was at his best when teaching world history and geography, leading hikes through the fields and woods of the Hudson Valley, and spinning yarns around the campfire.”
Esther Keiderling and her father were close, according to their loved ones. She is being remembered for being “a sensitive, deeply-thinking woman who loved reading and writing, with a particular interest in the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins and Edna St. Vincent Millay.”
“Her friends remember with great fondness how attentive she was to the needs of those around her, noticing when someone needed a word of encouragement or a small gift of some kind,” the obituary reads. “Such gifts often included her own heartfelt poetry.”
According to their loved ones, what drew both father and daughter to hiking up to great heights was “always the view.”
“The broad expanse of God’s handiwork, laid out below them,” relatives wrote in the obituary. “The unbearable tragedy of their passing aside, it is perhaps fitting that they went Home from a mountain top: a place of danger and solitude, but also, a place close to God.”
Tim Keiderling is survived by his wife of 31 years, Annemarie, three other daughters, two sons, and two granddaughters, according to the obituary. Funeral services were held Sunday for the father and daughter in Rifton, New York.
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WISCASSET, Maine (WMTW) – A Maine man has been arrested after police say he intentionally set a bed on fire after a dispute with his girlfriend, while they were still in it.
Police responded Monday, March 9, to a report of a fire that had been intentionally set inside a home on Beechnut Hill Road, according to the Wiscasset Police Department.
Investigators say the homeowner, Terry Couture, 41, set the bed on fire following an argument while both he and his girlfriend were in it. Authorities said the fire was extinguished and no serious injuries were reported.
Couture was arrested and charged with attempted murder, arson, aggravated criminal mischief, and domestic violence criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon.
The investigation is ongoing.
Copyright 2026 WABI. All rights reserved.
CLIFTON, Maine (WABI) – Maine Maple Sunday is less than two weeks away, and the Williams Family Farm in Clifton is gearing up for one of the sweetest seasons yet.
A long stretch of frost and snow meant a late start this year, but the first boil of sap has finally run through the evaporator, and maple season is officially underway.
At Williams Family Farm, everything is done by hand:
The Williams family has spent years working with whatever weather sends their way.
Long winters, surprise warmups, and everything in between—they’ve learned how to adapt so community members can enjoy their products.
As co-owner John Williams explains, the key is in the temperature.
“You need to have it warm during the day and still freezing at night, so typically that’s the middle of February,” said Williams. “We have a lot of trees, so we have to start tapping them before the conditions are ideal, so we start tapping way before it’s time for it to run just so we can get them all tapped. If you have ten trees in your backyard, you want to wait until roughly now, the middle of February to now, and when it’s actually running and put them in then because you can put all your taps in, in one day.”
They’re excited to welcome the community during Maine Maple Weekend on March 21 and 22.
They will be boiling up sap, hosting demonstrations, and providing free samples.
Locals can also join them for their third annual pancake breakfast where all proceeds are donated to Holbrook Recreation.
Follow the link to find out their hours for March and more.
Copyright 2026 WABI. All rights reserved.
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