LIVERMORE FALLS — The Fire Department’s restored 1926 Maxim pumper will carry the casket of longtime member Maurice “Moe” Chretien to his final resting place at Holy Cross Cemetery on Thursday.
Firetrucks will create an arch over Park Street at the station at about 10:30 a.m. The procession will travel through the arch to the cemetery, said Fire Chief Mark Chretien, one of Moe Chretien’s sons.
The 35-year member of the department passed away Monday after a brief illness. Moe Chretien drove the town’s first Maxim pumper and helped raise money to restore it, the fire chief said.
Chretien, 58, completed his 35th year with the department last February and was honored in March, the chief said. Moe Chretien reached the highest rank of captain within the department and was a training officer.
“My dad was always a quiet guy, but he enjoyed teaching and operating the pump truck,” Mark Chretien said. “He was quiet but had patience. He’d just work and work with you until you got it.”
Son Tommy Chretien, another a member of the Fire Department, said his father also served the community as an emergency medical technician and chief of service for Community Emergency Services, now NorthStar.
The family believes Chretien worked 15 years for the local ambulance service. During the time the family lived in Fayette, Mark Chretien said his father was a first responder for Fayette Rescue while also working for CES.
The sons followed their father and their uncle, James Chretien, into service in the Livermore Falls Fire Department.
Assistant Fire Chief Ron Leclerc served with Moe Chretien for much of his time in the department.
“We fought a lot of fires together,” Leclerc said. “You could always count on Moe being there and know there was going to be enough water.”
The self-employed and part-time worker who graduated from Livermore Falls High School in 1970 also used his skill of teaching others to coach youths through Area Youth Sports.
“He especially liked coaching basketball,” Mark Chretien said. “His younger brother was 10 years younger than him and he started coaching his brother’s team till we got up to participate in sports. He started not long after getting out of high school himself.”
Chretien also coached football and participated on the Fire Department’s basketball team. He enjoyed working on small engines and woodworking. He collected fire memorabilia and liked moose. He had a collection of those, Chretien said.
“He always wanted to see (his three sons and daughter) succeed,” Mark Chretien said. “He’d always help any way he could.”
Whether it was for family, the Fire Department or the community, Moe Chretien was there to help.
Maurice “Moe” Chretien is pictured receiving his 35th-year recognition for service to the Livermore Falls Fire Department in March. Chretien will be laid to rest on Thursday.


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