Joseph L. Poirier

Joseph Louis Poirier, 88, of Norridgewock, Maine, passed away at the Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine on Friday morning, January 26, 2024, surrounded by his daughter and son who were at his bedside in the middle of saying the Rosary aloud to him when he was called to the Lord. He transitioned from this life to the next hearing the prayers he said every day.

Joe, who was called “Louie” by his family and friends in Maine, was born in Skowhegan, Maine on September 24, 1935, to the late Frank and Vitaline (Johnson) Poirier. He was his parent’s eighth child with nine other brothers and sisters who always played an important and loving role throughout his life. Joe received a parochial school education through the eighth-grade at the building adjacent to the Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church in Skowhegan, Maine.

He always spoke very highly of his Catholic education and the religious Sisters who supported and encouraged him throughout his elementary years. During this time he would frequently serve as an altar boy and cantor during Mass with Fr. Lucien Chabot, who would pay him for serving at funeral Masses. He developed a genuine love of his Catholic Faith and a respect for the clergy at a young age. This early devotion to God and the Church would establish a foundation of life-long, faithful participation in the sacraments which would provide him the grace and love which guided him the rest of his life.

Joe attended Skowhegan High School where he graduated in 1953. He excelled in his studies and was very involved in varsity sports, music, theater and other activities which made his high school education a very active and rewarding experience.

In the fall of 1953, Joe attended the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy (MCP) in Boston. Though he had very little money, he worked his way through school by tending the lunch counter at a local pharmacy. This was not only his primary source of income, but also sustained him with meals when he had very little extra money for those types of essentials.

Joe would travel back to Skowhegan in the summers where he worked in a variety of jobs including “installing telephone poles” and retail work at the pharmacy in town. His older brothers and sisters pitched-in what they could to help “Louie” get through school. He didn’t have a car, so he would have to “hitch a ride” to get back to Maine from Boston. He had some interesting stories of the people who offered him a ride, but he always managed to get home safely.

Joe met his future wife, Leona Christine Marinacci, while he was at MCP and she was attending Framingham State Teachers College. In the spring of 1957 Joe graduated from MCP with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. On July 4th of that same year, he and Leona married early in the morning at her Catholic church in Framingham, Massachusetts. There may have been only 10 guests at their wedding which was followed by a humble “reception” at a nearby Howard Johnsons restaurant for brunch.

The newlyweds took their honeymoon in Florida while visiting Lee’s parents who retired there and couldn’t make it up for the wedding. Later in October, Joe enlisted in the United State Army and went to Basic Training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey followed by advanced individual training as an x-ray technician at Ft.

Sam Houston, Texas. While he was completing his first year of initial Army training, Lee finished her last year at college and received a bachelor’s degree in education.

After his initial military training in Texas, Joe was ordered to report for his first assignment at the post hospital at Fr. Devens, Massachusetts where his wife joined him after her college graduation and they lived in a small apartment above a pharmacy in a neighboring town. As soon as the hospital commander discovered that Joe was a registered pharmacist, he was reassigned from the x-ray department to fill a critical vacancy as the hospital pharmacist.

Joe served in the Army for three years until October 1960. During his time serving at Ft. Devens, Joe met Roy Theroux, a pharmaceutical sales representative from Eli Lilly and Company, who used to call on him at the hospital. Roy recognized Joe’s competence as a young pharmacist and his friendly, personable style of communication. Roy thought Joe could be a great asset to Eli Lilly’s sales team of registered pharmacists who called on doctors to promote the use of breakthrough medications for the patients who needed them the most. Joe agreed to interview with Eli Lilly manager, Paul Mason, who offered him a job almost immediately. That began his very prosperous career with a premier pharmaceutical company known for its development of penicillin & other antibiotics, a wide-range of diabetes medications, and the world-renowned anti-depressant Prozac. Joe spent over thirty years working for Eli Lilly and served as both a sales representative and sales manager. Throughout his career, he received numerous awards and recognition for his outstanding performance which centered on building trusting and caring relationships with the doctors and medical staff he served so well.

Joe was always a dedicated and loving husband to his wife Leona and his two children, Christopher and Lauralee. Like many young families, Joe had to manage relocating his family several times early in his career. In the 1970’s, his wife Leona was diagnosed with cancer which led to many decades of her ongoing treatment and an eventual, miraculous remission. These events, coupled with his increasing responsibilities as a manager for Eli Lilly’s new Dista division, which covered most of New England, put significant constraints on his personal life and family time. Despite these challenges, Joe remained faithful to his vocation as a husband and father which was deeply rooted in his unwavering love of God and his Catholic faith. He served his local parish as a lector, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, parish council member, singer, fund-raiser and catechist. In the early eighties, he got involved with the Marriage Encounter program and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal where he participated in music ministry and retreat support at the Espousal Center in Waltham, Massachusetts.

When he retired from Eli Lilly in the late nineties, he and his wife moved from Concord to Plymouth, Massachusetts where he intended to play a lot of golf. Unfortunately, a previous injury to his leg and other unforeseen medical challenges like lung cancer, prevented him from pursuing his time on the golf course. For several years, he and Leona would pack up their minivan and travel to the Gulf Coast where they would spend a few winter months on Dauphin Island, Alabama. From there they would reconnect with Leona’s brother and family from Florida and visit with other retired friends and relatives who would stop by for an extended visit.

Joe and Leona moved to Norridgewock, Maine in 2018 to be close to his home town of Skowhegan and his brothers, sisters and high school friends. Lee experienced a fairly rapid onset of Alzheimer’s disease which made caring for her at home an increasing challenge for both of them. Within the first year of their new residence in Maine, Joe had to move his wife to a long-term memory care facility in Oakland. This decision broke his heart, but he realized this was the safest place to get the medical care she

deserved. He would visit her nearly every day, but became increasingly saddened with her declining ability to interact with him. He knew his visits made her happy, but he was still discouraged that he couldn’t take away her discomfort and converse with her the way they were accustomed. He would sing songs to her hoping to get a smile or verbal acknowledgment, but these reactions also became less and less frequent.

Joe lived by himself in Norridgewock for a few years and was largely self-sufficient. He would drive to see Leona; attend morning Mass; and visit his friends and family for breakfast. However, over the past couple of years, Joe experienced more frequent bouts of serious illness, including a cancerous growth near his liver and gallbladder ducts. No sooner was his cancer effectively managed with a course of radiation treatment, than he began to encounter problems with other serious infections and cardiac issues which would significantly impair his energy level and mobility. His daughter, Lauralee, was called many times in “the middle of the night” to meet him at the hospital in Skowhegan or transport him, herself, to the medical centers in Augusta or Portland. In recent months, Lauralee was with him nearly every day, preparing healthy meals for him and driving him to his various appointments. Joe always did everything he could to fight his illnesses head-on and he never gave up on life. He was prepared for death, both spiritually and emotionally, but understood that his life was a gift from God and he honored that gift by making the most of it. During his most recent admittance to the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on January 9th, Joe was fighting a serious “blood infection” – a fight he was temporarily winning. Both Chris and Lauralee were with him continuously during his last ten days. He also received visits from several relatives and friends. Unfortunately, complications with his heart along with acute kidney failure compelled him into palliative care on January 25. After only a day and a half, he was called to the Lord.

Joseph is survived by his wife, Leona Christine (Marinacci) Poirier, his son Christopher and wife Linda Poirier, his daughter Lauralee and husband Mark Jones, and grandchildren Matthew and wife Remay Poirier, Tyler and wife Sofia Leavitt, Melissa Poirier & great-grandson Trevor Poirier, Marlena Poirier, Laurielle Leavitt, and Madeline Poirier. He is also survived by his sister Esther Tracy and his sister Theresa Irwin and her husband Larry.

Joseph was predeceased by his mother and father, Frank and Vitaline (Johnson) Poirier, his brothers Armand, Frank Jr., John, and Frederick Poirier, and his sisters, Irene Devoe, Leatrice Poulin, Clara Withee and Joan Gagnon. He was also predeceased by his grandson, Michael Poirier.

Joseph’s life was a conspicuous example of Christian service to his family, friends and community. At one point in his young life he contemplated serving the Church as a Catholic priest, but instead directed his ministry of caring and service as a husband, father, son, brother, cousin and friend. His sincere love for others permeated both his personal and professional lives with the utmost integrity. Like all of us, he was not a “saint,” but his earnest desire to be like one was obvious to all who knew him. He will be missed tremendously.

Visiting hours will be on Thursday, February 8th from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Smart & Edwards Funeral Home, 183 Madison Ave., Skowhegan, Maine, (207) 474-3357. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, February 9th 11:00 a.m. at Notre Dame de Lourdes Catholic Church, 291 Water St., Skowhegan, Maine. A burial ceremony will be scheduled later in June