Norman O. Gauvreau

Dr. Norman O. Gauvreau 87, born and raised in Lewiston, died on September 22, 2008 in Portland, Maine, where he had recently moved. Dr. Gauvreau was born on January 16, 1921 in Lewiston, the son of Dr. Horace O. Gauvreau and Marie-Louise Lebel Gauvreau, both of Lewiston. He graduated from Lewiston High School in 1937 and completed a post graduate course of study at Hebron Academy before enrolling in Bowdoin College in 1939. An excellent athlete, he lettered in football as a tackle at Lewiston High School, Hebron Academy and Bowdoin College. He interrupted his college studies to join the Navy as an aviator, reporting to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for pre flight school. He completed his flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida. He excelled in flight training and transferred to the U. S. Marines with the rank of lieutenant. While stationed at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station outside Santa Ana, California, he met the love of his live, Dorothy Daniels of Beverly Hills, at an officers’ dance. Lieutenant Gauvreau married Dorothy Daniels in La Jolla, California in February, 1944. Shortly thereafter he shipped out aboard the aircraft carrier USS Savo Island to join his flight squadron, VMF 222, the “Flying Deuces”, in the Solomon Islands. During his military service in World War II, Lieutenant Gauvreau flew over 100 combat missions in the Solomon Islands and Philippine Islands, flying F4U Corsairs with the VMF 222. After the war Lieutenant Gauvreau returned to Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida, where he served as a flight instructor. From 1946 - 1950 he flew P-47 fighter aircraft with the Vermont Air National Guard in Burlington, Vermont. He later attained the distinction of serving as a commissioned officer in all four branches of the Armed Services: Marine Corps fighter pilot, Army Air Corps Reserve fighter pilot, Air Force reserve fighter pilot, Navy physician, and also as a member of the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Dr. Gauvreau had a lifelong love of flying and regularly flew his twin engine Cessna after he returned to Maine to establish his medical practice. He had four true loves: his country, his wife, his children, grandchildren and family, and his flying. He often remarked that had he not entered medicine he would have pursued a career as a military flight instructor. In 1946 he graduated from Bowdoin College and entered the University of Vermont Medical School, where he graduated in 1950. Following graduation from medical school, Dr. Gauvreau conducted his internship at the Chelsea Naval Hospital outside Boston, Massachusetts before returning to Lewiston to establish a medical practice with his father, Dr. Horace Gauvreau. From 1956 – 1958 he interrupted his general medical practice in Lewiston to pursue a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Cambridge City Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1958 he was selected in a highly competitive process to participate in a one year cancer surgical fellowship at Pondville Cancer Hospital in Walpole, Massachusetts. Following his specialty training, Dr. Gauvreau returned to Lewiston and reestablished his medical practice with a specialty in obstetrics and gynecology. During his practice he served as Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, was on the courtesy staff at Central Maine Medical Center, and was designated the Maine Section Chairman of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He retired from medical practice in 1990. Dr. Gauvreau remained an avid athlete and outdoorsman all his life as an active golfer, skier and tennis player. He was an enthusiastic boater who cruised the Maine coast for years in his cabin cruiser, the Ebb Tide, out of Boothbay Harbor. He also was an excellent bridge player and regularly competed in local tournaments. He loved his vacation home in Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island in the Bahamas and regularly flew his Cessna to the Bahamas. Upon his retirement, he spent his winters in the Bahamas. He had a special fondness for Maine and its people, often remarking upon his good fortune in living in this very special state. Dr. Gauvreau had a deep and abiding interest in civic and community affairs. A strong proponent of combined municipal services for Lewiston and Auburn, he ran for mayor of Lewiston in 1962, finishing first in the initial voting while losing in a runoff election to Donia J. Girard. He imparted to his family a keen sense of civic involvement and public service. Dr. Gauvreau was predeceased by a sister, Anita McCauley, formerly of Lewiston, Maine and Montauk, New York. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Dorothy Daniels Gauvreau, formerly of Lewiston and now of Portland; a sister, Claudette Doran of Bluffton, South Carolina a son, Dr. Douglas Kent Gauvreau and his wife, Andrea Woods Gauvreau of Falmouth, Maine; a son, Norman Paul Gauvreau and his wife, Evelyn Greenlaw of Lewiston, Maine; a son, Kenneth Daniel Gauvreau and his wife, Robin Gauvreau of Putney, Vermont; a daughter, Gayle Martha Gauvreau of Portland, Maine, and his beloved grandchildren: Daniel Gauvreau of Springfield, Vermont; Becky Walker of Swanzey, New Hampshire, Sarah Gauvreau Kuzniar of Chicago, Illinois, Jessica Gauvreau of Lewiston, Maine, Robin Ryerson Gauvreau of Boston, Massachusetts, Johanna Gauvreau of Boston, Massachusetts, and Elise Douglas Gauvreau of Aspen, Colorado. GAUVREAU died in Portland September 22, 2008, Norman O. Gauvreau, MD age 87 years formerly of Lewiston. Memorial services will be held in honor of Dr. Gauvreau at the Pinette & Lynch Funeral Home on SATURDAY, October 4th at 3:00 p.m followed by military honors. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his honor to the St. Mary’s Health System Foundation, Campus Avenue, Lewiston, Maine 04240. Online condolences and sharing of memories may be expressed at www.lynchbrothers.com Family and friends are invited to visit 1 hour prior to the services at the PINETTE & LYNCH FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES 305 Alfred Plourde Parkway, Lewiston, 784-4023