Obituary of Marie-Claire Dube

Marie-Claire passed away peacefully at home with her husband by her side on October 1, 2022, after a long illness.  Like her father and her mother before her, she waited until October to go to her rest, in the fall of the year when nature goes to sleep amidst the vibrant fall colors she dearly loved. Coincidently, the day she died was the feast of one of her favorite saints, St. Therese of Lisieux. She was born on a small family farm in Clair, NB, Canada on September 12, 1940, to Antonio and Marie (Losier) Lang.  She attended elementary school in Clair, NB and graduated from the regional high school in St. Francis, NB in 1958. After high school she enrolled in the nursing program at the Hotel-Dieu Hospital in Edmundston, NB and received her nursing degree in 1961 after completing additional training at the St. Michael-Archangel Hospital in Quebec City. She began her career as a registered nurse in Edmundston NB. 

Marie-Claire met her future husband Gerry on a chance meeting during a nursing school fund raising ‘tag’ day. A few casual dates led to a three-year long-distance courtship. They were married in Clair NB on September 7, 1963, and moved to Orono, ME where Gerry was pursuing post graduate studies. Marie-Claire was very proud of her Canadian roots and particularly of her French-Canadian heritage but was also honored to later become a naturalized US citizen. After moving to Orono, Marie-Claire worked at Eastern Maine Medial Center for a year but took an extended leave from nursing to raise her four children. When her children were older, she enrolled in a refresher nursing course offered by St Joseph Hospital and renewed her RN certification in Maine. After working briefly at St Joseph Hospital, she accepted a full-time position at EMMC where she worked for 16 years in the OB/GYN department. She served as a preceptor to other young nurses and especially enjoyed caring for new moms and newborns, often referring to Grant 7 at EMMC as the ‘happy’ floor. She retired from nursing in 1997 but continued doing volunteer work for 10 years as a Eucharistic minister for the home bound and at the hospital, a ministry she truly loved. Both as a full-time nurse and as a volunteer she enjoyed speaking French with many patients from French speaking communities. It would bring a little bit of additional comfort to those patients. 

In addition to her work, Marie-Claire was totally dedicated to her family and participated in all her children’s school and recreational activities. When the children were young, she enjoyed the many family camping trips to various locations in Maine and Canada. When her husband Gerry became involved in the creation of the Brewer Youth Hockey program, she volunteered to teach the very youngest how to skate. She encouraged each of her children to learn a musical instrument, driving each one to music lessons and recitals. In later years when career choices dispersed her children across the country, she travelled to visit each one as often as possible. In fact, she managed to take a few weeks off from work to go help each one at the birth of seven of her eight grandchildren. As the grandchildren grew up, she thoroughly enjoyed the yearly family reunions on Cape Cod and Mount Desert Island. 

Marie-Claire loved to travel and took advantage of visits with her scattered family as stopping points to many scenic locations across the US and Canada. She also treasured the memories from joining her children’s family trips to the Caribbeans and to many European countries. She was very adventurous and willing to try new things, including zip lining over the rain forests in Costa Rica and parasailing over the Pacific coast when she was 70 years old. She will be sorely missed but fondly remembered on future family gatherings.

She was predeceased by her parents Antonio and Marie (Losier) Lang of Clair, New Brunswick, Canada, a brother Leonard Lang, a brother Leopold Lang and wife Therese, a brother Rev. Jean-Guy Lang, a sister Therese and husband Yvon Grodin, a sister Rachel and husband Jean-Louis Ouellette.

Marie-Claire is survived by her husband of 59 years, Gerald Dube of Brewer, ME, sons Dan Dube and wife Ann of Framingham, MA, Mark Dube and wife Alicia of Savage, MN, David Dube and wife Heidi Stump of Boulder, CO, daughter Michelle Keenan and husband Sean of Alexandria, VA, grandchildren Nicole, Christine, Claudia, Caitlin, Natalie, Bridget, David, and Laura. She is also survived by sisters Giselle Vaillancourt (Roger) of Madawaska, ME; Lise Poitras (Jean-Guy) of Edmundston, NB; Bernadette Fongemie and (Nelson) of Petit-Rocher, NB; brothers Ludger Lang (Collette) of Clair, NB; and Pierre Lang (Fernande) of Edmundston, NB. She leaves behind a large extended family of nephews, nieces, and many cousins.

The family wishes to thank Loving-Touch In-Home Care for the excellent 24-hour care and compassion provided for Marie-Claire over several months and to the Northern Light Hospice Program for managing her care.

Friends may call from 4-6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at Kiley & Foley Funeral Service, 69 State Street, Brewer. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated11 a.m. Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Mary's Catholic Church, 768 Ohio Street, Bangor, followed by the Rite of Committal at Mt. Pleasant Catholic Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited to share conversation and refreshments at the Parish Hall of St. Mary's Catholic Church, immediately following the services. In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Marie-Claire Dube may be made to the School of Nursing for student support at the University of Maine at umainefoundation.org/memorial  or at our.umaine.edu/dube . Checks may be mailed to Gift Processing, Marie-Claire Dube Memorial Gift, UMaine Foundation, 2 Alumni Place, Orono, ME 04469-5792. Messages and memories may be shared with her family on the tribute wall of kileyandfoley.com.