Juanita M Legere

Portland- Juanita (Nita) Mae Legere, 79, loving wife and loving older sister was promoted to heaven on July 31, 2012 at the Barron Center. One of nine children, the daughter of the late Milledge Sr. and Lorena Preston, she was born on April 6, 1934. She was educated in Portland schools. She had to leave school before high school to help out with her younger brother and two sisters at home. As her siblings got older Nita went back to school and got her G.E.D. from the Adult Education Department on April 13, 1966. She was a member of the Salvation Army for her entire. She played in the band and was a songster; she was also a Sunday school teacher. At Christmas time after working all day she would then ring the bells at the Red Kettles. Nita was a nanny for a few of the Salvation Army officers. She loved taking care of their children and seeing them grow up. She was able to travel throughout the states with them. For 16 years she worked in the kitchen of the Golden Ages Center on Cumberland Ave. She also worked in the kitchen at the Salvation Army’s summer camp on Sebago Lake. Her last job was working in the kitchen of the adult rehabilitation center in Portland, where she worked till she has to stop due to failing health. Nita’s one real joy was working with the disaster team on the mobile canteen. When the call came in from the Portland fire chief, Nita would take the call and be the first one on scene to make the coffee, and prepare sandwiches, and all the other items needed to go on the canteen. It was important for Nita that everyone working at the scene has something hot to drink to stay warm. Nita worked with the disaster canteen for over 35 years. The last call Nita worked on was on the oil spill in Portland Harbor a few years ago. She met a lot of people who came to work at the disaster who became her friends. She would often ask them how they were and if they were taking care of themselves and they would reply “yes mom, I am doing fine”. The Portland Fire Department presented her with a certificate from Cumberland County and the State of Maine, offering their gratitude for her 35 years of service with the Salvation Army. She responded to hundreds of calls in all kinds of weather day and night. Nita loved to play Bingo where she made a lot of friends. She also enjoyed playing cribbage at the Golden Age Center. She was a member of the Pythian Sisters of Maine and a member of the Presumpscot Grange. Nita was a wonderful person who loved people and their children. Though she never had any children of her own she was like a second mom to her niece Melissa and nephews Arik and Richard. She will be sadly missed by all who knew her. Besides her parents she was predeceased by four brothers Arnold, Calvin, Milledge Jr. and Raymond Preston, three sisters, one a baby, Mille Blanchard and Lorena Ramsey. She was also predeceased by her first husband Albert Guerin. She is survived by her loving husband of 22 years Peter Legere, one sister Frances Elwell, and her children Arik and Richard Elwell and Melissa Winn, a brother –in-law Loran Ramsey , two sisters-in-law Lorrin Preston , and Gladys Preston, and many nieces and nephews. Nita also leaves her two cats. Her family would like to thank all the nurses and caregivers at the Oakdale unit and 2 North at the Alzheimer’s unit at the Barron center for all the great care that they gave Nita over the years. Family and friends are invited to a time of visitation on Monday August 6, 2012 from 4:00-7:00 PM at Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford Street, Portland. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday August 7, 2012 at 11:00 AM at the Salvation Army, 297 Cumberland Ave, Portland. Interment will follow at Brooklawn Memorial Park in Portland. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in Nita’s memory to the Alzheimer’s Association of Maine, 170 Rte 1, Falmouth ME 04105, or to the Golden Age Center, The Salvation Army, 297 Cumberland Ave, Portland Maine 04101. Please visit www.jonesrichandhutchins.com for additional information and to sign Nita’s guestbook.

Warm Regards,