1952 – 2003

PITTSFIELD – Raymond Albert Dionne, 51, affectionately known to all as “Mr. Ray”, lost his 26-month battle with ALS on June 11, in Pittsfield.

He was born to Maude Louise Dow and Roland Luger Dionne on Feb. 13, 1952, in Hartford, Conn., as his parents were en route to their Maine home, thus making him a flatlander by default.

He attended Lewiston schools graduating from Lewiston High School in 1970. In 1975, he graduated from the University of Maine at Portland-Gorham with a bachelor’s degree in theater.

This theater background, coupled with a Dale Carnegie sales course, taught him how to entertain, to motivate, and to make everyone his friend.

He was active in theaters in the Northeast as an actor, a director, and a set designer. He served as a technical director for the Biddeford City Theater in the early 1980’s. As he continued to pursue a career in theater, he showed his versatility as a salesman for radio advertisements and cemetery plots, as a cab driver and a pizza maker, as well as clowning at regional festivals.

After completing the Teaching in Secondary Schools program at USM in 1988, he began his teaching career at South Portland High as an English teacher and theater director, continuing on to Forest Hills High School in Jackman, and then to Machias Memorial High School before finding his home with the Jobs for Maine Graduates/Opportunity Awareness Program and Nokomis Regional High in 1993, where he continued to influence the lives of teenagers until ALS forced him to retire in 2002.

Mr. Dionne received many awards for his contributions to others, including the National Leadership Award in 2002 for training he completed at the national level for JMG; the Turtle Award, which he received as a national presenter in Louisiana for JMG; and a Service Award from the MSAD 48 Board of Directors.

He was also named Jaycee of the Year in 1981 for service work within that organization. Making him most proud, however, was the recognition the MSAD 48 district bestowed upon him in 2002, naming the Nokomis Warrior Broadcasting complex in his honor. He founded NWB in 1996 and has built it into a self-sufficient $200,000 program that boasts tape-delayed and live broadcasts of academic, music, and sporting events to the MSAD 48 communities.

Predeceased by his father, he is survived by his mother of Lewiston; a sister, Patricia Dionne Moody and her three children of Alaska; Betty Atwood; Dick and Frances Chamberlain; Christine, Tim, and Bethany Fox; Kelly, Jeff, Tyler, and Devon Cloutier; Mike, Yvonne, and Jennifer Wilcox, all of the Lewiston-Auburn area.

He leaves behind the dedicated staff of Sebasticook Valley Health Care Facility, his dedicated hospice worker, and the many friends he made through the ALS support group of Maine.

He is also survived by his beloved Nokomis and JMG families, who showed him that friends are the family we choose. In addition, “Mr. Ray” leaves behind countless students whose lives were enriched and guided by his loving concern and endless encouragement.