TEWKSBURY, Mass. — Bro. Joseph A. R. Gagné, OMI, 84, died on Feb. 2, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence, after a long period of declining health.

He was born in Lewiston, April 30, 1928, to the late Andrew and Eliane (Bolduc) Gagné. Bro. “Joe,” as he was known, attended schools in Lewiston. In 1948, he entered the U.S. Army, where he served as a medical technician. While in the military service, he met his wife and they married in Germany on Jan. 26, 1954.

Before he became a religious brother, he and his wife lived in Lewiston for more than 30 years, where he worked as an operating room technician, a respiratory therapist and as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). He also worked as a handyman and renovator at which he was very skilled. He and his wife had three children.

After the death of his wife in 1988, Bro. Joe entered the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1989. At age 63, he was the oldest novice in his group in Godfrey, Ill. His first vows as a religious were professed at the Oblate Novitiate in Alton, Ill., on Aug. 1, 1991. On Sept. 9, 1995, he made his perpetual vows at Notre Dame de Lourdes Church in Lowell, Mass.

Bro. Joe’s first obedience in 1991 was ministering to his senior Oblate brothers. From 1992 to 1994, he was second assistant to the superior at the Oblate Provincial House in Hudson, N.H. He joined the community at the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace in Colebrook, N.H., in July 1994 and remained until January 1997, at which time he joined the André Garin Community in Lowell, Mass.

In November 2002, due to declining health, he transferred to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Residence in Tewksbury, where he remained until his death.

Besides his Oblate family, Bro. Gagné is survived by his sister, Madeleine Dionne of Mechanic Falls; two daughters, Clarisse A. Bell and her husband, Randy, of Minot, N.D., and Christine Gagné, and her spouse, Judy Ouellette, of Turner; one son, Patrick R. Gagné, and his wife, Brenda, of North Berwick; and four grandchildren, Amy Gagné, Elizabeth Gagné, Benjamin Bell and Devin Bell.

He was predeceased by his wife, Lorraine T. (Breton) Gagné; and two brothers, Lionel Gagné and Richard Gagné.

For condolences or directions, please visit www.mckennaouellette.com.