BIDDEFORD – Andre P. Fortier, M.D., 88, of Biddeford, died Thursday evening, Oct. 16, at Southern Maine Medical Center.

He was born in Biddeford on June 6, 1920, a son of Joseph and Antoinette Roberge Fortier. He was educated in St. Andre’s Parochial schools and graduated from College Ste. Marie in Montreal, PQ. He attended and graduated from Laval University in Quebec City, PQ, as a medical doctor. He did his internship and residency in L’Hopital Hotel Dieu in Quebec City, PQ.

In 1949, Dr. Fortier opened his practice in Biddeford, serving the community until 1995, retiring at the age of 75. During those 46 years, he continued to make “house calls.” For him, medicine was a vocation and an art. He enjoyed staff privileges at the former Trull Hospital, Notre Dame Hospital, Webber Hospital and Southern Maine Medical Center. He was very devoted to St. Andre’s Home for Unwed Mothers in Biddeford.

During the Korean conflict, Dr. Fortier served with the U.S. Army for two years as a captain in the Medical Corps.

On Sept. 29, 1948, he married Madeleine Legare in St. Vincent de Paul Church in Quebec City, PQ. She died on May 20, 1979.

On June 8, 1985, he married Imelda Doiron Paul in St. Mary’s Church in Wells. She died in September 2004.

Dr. Fortier was a member and past president of Le Club Richelieu. He was a member of the Maine Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He was an honorary corporator of the Biddeford Savings Bank and was the recipient of the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Humanitarian Award. He served as grand marshal of La Kermesse Parade in 2000. He was medical director at St. Andre’s Health Care Facility in Biddeford for many years. He regularly attended the medical grand rounds at Maine Medical Center in Portland, even until the week before his death.

A humble and devout man, Dr. Fortier was a member of St. Andre’s Church where he served as a French lector at Masses for many years.

Among his interests, he enjoyed chopping firewood for his wood stove, wintering in Florida and traveling to Quebec. He loved spending time at his cottage at Hills Beach, and watching old movies, especially “Patton.”

He is survived by three daughters, Claire Solman and her husband, John, of Lincoln, Mass., Helene Fortier of Biddeford, and Marie Fortier Labrecque and her husband, Ronald, of Biddeford; two sons, Benoit Fortier and his wife, Nancy, of Biddeford, and Bernard Fortier and his wife, Pauline, of Lewiston; 18 grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by a daughter, Pauline Briggs; four brothers, the Rev. Joseph Fortier, sj, the Rev. Antoine Fortier, sj, Brother Emile Fortier, sj, Wilfrid J. Fortier; and one sister, Marianne Trudeau.