Catherine “Kay” Cutler holds her eldest son, Eliot Cutler, in this family photo from the late 1940s.

From left, brothers Joel, Josh and Eliot Cutler. Joel and Josh both went to medical school and became doctors like their father, but Eliot was always interested in politics. He started as an intern with Sen. Edmund Muskie.

Eliot Cutler’s 1964 yearbook photo from Deerfield Academy, a classic New England boarding school.

Eliot Cutler with his wife Melanie Stewart in 1978. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2013.