Wilfrid Joseph Pleau

Wilfrid Joseph Phillip Pleau was called to his heavenly home on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. His long-time friend and fellow member of the Knights of Columbus, Lucien Sanou, was at his side as he left this earth to continue on his journey.

Mr. Pleau was born on January 26, 1928 in Winslow, Maine. He was the son of William and Alida (Lina) Pleau – (Alida’s maiden name was Morneau). He, his parents and siblings lived in a small home on Clinton Avenue in Winslow that was a converted barn.

In 1937, when he was only nine years old, Wilfrid’s mother died at the tender age of thirty-two at the height of the depression. She left behind her husband and eight children. The State of Maine would not allow the children to stay with their father unless there was a woman in the house. Therefore Florence (Freida) Pleau, William Pleau’s nineteen-year-old sister, volunteered to move in with the family to care for all the children. Aunt Freida bought Wilfrid his first harmonica and taught him to play when he was ten years old. He continued playing the harmonica throughout his life and was known to often serenade his twenty-five nieces and nephews by calling them on their birthdays to play the “Happy Birthday” tune. He continued to do this well into his nineties.

Wilfrid’s father remarried in 1939 at the age of thirty-seven. His new bride – Leontine Quirion Pleau – was forty-nine. Although she was a widow and had no children of her own, she courageously entered the household with eight children ranging in age from three to thirteen. She lovingly raised them all as her own until her demise. There are many family stories of how Wilfrid would drive his stepmother crazy without even trying - but he always meant well.

While tennis was his athletic passion, Wilfrid was also a very good ballroom dancer and figure skater. In addition, he enjoyed downhill skiing. He was a member of the Waterville Skating Club and even entered competitions with his partner – often skating to programs that they choreographed. He never lacked for partners according to his brothers and sisters.

In 1962, a year after Chubby Checker introduced the new dance craze to the world, Wilfrid danced the Twist with his sister, Estelle, in front of their stepmother and a small gathering in the living room of their family home. His Catholic faith always played a major role throughout Wilfrid’s life. In 1950 he enrolled in a Seminary where he stayed until 1953 when he determined that the priesthood was not his calling. He would laughingly state that he decided not to become a priest only because he had a hard time learning Latin. “The younger kids were much better at languages,” he would say. Ironically, he was actually fluent in two languages, French and English.

After leaving the Seminary, Wilfrid still wanted to do something for his country so he enlisted in the Army. He served at Fort Benning, Georgia and in less than a year he became a sergeant in the anti-tank command. He also served in the Army National Guard. Upon his discharge from the Army, Wilfrid enrolled in Niagara University where he ultimately received his degree.

Since Mr. Pleau put a high stock on education, he offered all his nieces and nephews a gift if/when they graduated high school and got good grades: a free trip to New York City or $50.00. After graduating from Niagara University, Wilfrid left for his first paying adult job in the toy department at Jordan Marsh in Boston. During the time of his employment there, all his nieces and nephews would agree that their uncle gave the best Christmas presents. There are also fond memories of Wilfrid’s visits to Maine to see family and arriving with a car full of candy to disperse to the many nieces and nephews.

In the early 1960s Wilfrid spent a few years managing a bookstore in Canada and also volunteered at a Seminary/Retreat Center in Augusta, ME for a short time. Because of his fluency in French, Wilfrid eventually moved to New York City where he was hired on October 4, 1966 by Air France at Idlewild Airport (later JFK Airport) in New York City. He began as a cargo agent, and at the time of his departure, was a senior lead agent. He took the nickname “Willy” while working there. His position required that he coordinate shipments of goods between France and the United States. He remained at Air France until he retired in 1989. He was a long-time member of Amicale (Association of Air France). Many co-workers remember Willie as a wonderful and patient mentor as they learned the business.

One of the best perks Wilfrid received while at Air France was free roundtrip flights to Europe. He traveled to Holy sites in Garabandal, Spain and Fatima in Portugal and also to Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Rome and London. Always the dapper dresser, Wilfrid said that the main reason he went to London was to buy a tailor-made suit. Wilfrid met some fairly famous people in his travels. For instance, in 1968 Wilfrid met Padre Pio while touring Spain. Padre Pio had the Stigmata - the wounds of Christ - and died later that year. He was canonized a Saint in 2002 by Pope John Paul II. Wilfrid also had the opportunity to meet two popes in his lifetime - Pope Paul VI in the 1960s, and Pope John Paul II in the 1990s.

In his free time, Wilfrid provided slide shows and talks to various groups based on his many European trips to Holy sites, as well as to Holocaust sites, including Dachau, Germany. He also amassed a large collection of VHS recordings on religious and inspirational topics and was even the recorded voice in the “Garanbandal Apparition” story. He willing and generously copied and shared these tapes with family and friends. In his Queens co-op apartment, Wilfrid often organized gatherings to recite the rosary and was visited there by a world-renowned Chinese priest and religious prisoner whose picture with Pope John Paul II he proudly displayed in his home.

For 43 years Wilfrid volunteered at Coler Specialty Hospital on Roosevelt Island in New York to deliver communion on Sundays to patients.

Until he moved to the Queen of Peace Residence in his later years, for more than 20 years Wilfrid always opened the doors of the Our Lady of Fatima church for weekly masses. He was involved in many religious organizations, particularly the Knights of Columbus where he remained the director of the Pro-Life Program. He was the chaplain of the Catholic War Veterans of Our Lady of Fatima Post 1927 as well a member of the Carmelites and the Franciscan 3rd order.

Wilfrid was a generous contributor to many charitable organizations and, on a monthly basis, sent money to have Masses said for members of his family and the souls in the Purgatory. Until as recently as 2 years ago, Wilfrid also continued to promptly mail greeting cards for holidays, special occasions and birthdays to countless family members and friends.

Wilfrid continued to stay in shape throughout his life by going to a Jack LaLanne gym in New York City nearly every day - long before working out became a national obsession. He was known to say that the secret to a healthy life was the “3 G’s”: God, Gym and Garlic. Wilfrid will be remembered not only for his perpetually happy disposition, gentle manner and kindness, but also for his profound and compassionate wisdom for those who turned to him in times of trouble, as many did over the years. He had a calling that was steadfast and he never wavered in his desire to help others.

Wilfrid was pre-deceased by his birth mother, Alida (Lina) Pleau; his father, William Pleau; and step-mother, Leontine Pleau. He is also pre-deceased by his seven siblings listed in their birth order: Theresa Doyon; Ferdinand (Fern) Pleau; Carmen LaChance; Cecile Toulouse; Estelle Pleau; William Pleau; and Lionel (Babe) Pleau. Four of his 25 nieces and nephews also pre-deceased him: nephews – Lawrence (Larry) LaChance; Kenneth LaChance; Daniel Pleau and one niece – Donna LaChance. In addition to his numerous New York friends, Wilfrid is survived by 21 nieces and nephews and countless great nieces and nephews. He was a Godfather to nephew William (Bill) Pleau, nieces Donna Pleau and Mary (Pleau) Greene and great nephew David Enkosky.