SACO – Roland E. Morin of Saco passed away on April 25, 2019 at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough after a courageous battle with cancer.

He was born in Lewiston, the son of Irene and Edmond Morin; he attended Lewiston schools and graduated from Lewiston High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1968 and served a tour in Vietnam from 1968-1969 as a combat engineer in Company A-70th Engineer Battalion. When he returned from Vietnam, he served in Company B- 17th Battalion-5th Brigade as the personnel specialist in Fort Knox, Kentucky until 1971. Roland was very proud of his service and enjoyed discussing his service with anyone but really got joy discussing military service with other veterans.

After his service in the Army, he enrolled in USM and began working at the Department of Human Services (DHS) where he met his wife of 45+ years. Roland spent over 30 years at DHS mostly as a caseworker in the Aspire program, where he helped countless clients. He was also a valuable peer to his coworkers assisting and offering advice to further their careers. Those that worked with “Rolie” got to see firsthand, his dedication to his work while maintaining a light hearted and fun attitude towards life. After retiring from DHS, Roland worked as a job coach, helping those with disabilities in the workplace, showing his compassion to helping others. He retired from job coaching in 2016 and began working at Xuron in Saco, crafting the tools that he used regularly when building models.

Roland was an expert scale model builder, winning countless awards for the models he built. He was known for the extra fine detail of the dashboards and wiring of engines in the models he built and specialized in military armor, classic cars and rat rods. He was a proud member of the Southern Maine Scale Modelers club; he had many close friends and fellow modelers that he thoroughly enjoyed spending time with and learning tips and tricks on building models.

Roland was known for his quick wit, snide comments/remarks and overall laidback fun demeanor. He is known for using acronyms and had one for just about any situation, his favorites were PITA and WAFM. He enjoyed camping and was easy to spot at local campgrounds by looking for the most elaborate campsite setup including a very large (Taj Mahal sized) tent and several canopies covering the “kitchen” and “living room” of the campsite. He also enjoyed music; mostly oldies and classic rock, his favorite song of all time IN A GADDA DA VIDA, where he showcased his air guitar and air drums skills.

Roland is survived by his wife, Joanne of Saco; cats Max and Alice; son David and his wife Jessica of Portland; grand puppies Belladonna and Pennylane; sister Diane Morin-Berman and her husband Larry of Mashpee, Mass., brother Raymond Morin and his wife Jackie of Sanford, N.C., nieces and nephews; and many very close friends.

The Morin family would like to especially thank the doctors and staff of Maine Centers for Healthcare, Maine Medical Center Gibson Pavilion and the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough for their expert care and compassion for both Roland and his Family during the past nine months. A special thank you to Scott Chase for providing Roland and Joanne with a special afternoon ride, one that none of us will ever forget!

A Military Honors Ceremony will be held on June 28th at 2 p.m. at the Southern Maine Memorial Veterans Cemetery in Springvale.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough.

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