FALMOUTH – Gilbert J. Plourde, 87, of Park Danforth, 777 Stevens Ave., Portland, went to be with the Lord on Monday, June 5. He died at Falmouth by the Sea Nursing Home, where he had been a resident for the last six months.

He was born in Lewiston, on Jan. 9, 1919, the son of Octave and Aurelie (Theriault) Plourde. He attended the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., until the age of 17, learning the art of chair-caning.

He arrived at the Maine Center for the Blind, now the Iris Network, in 1936, and was a resident worker. He worked in the chair-caning department for several years and then transferred to broom making. He also sold brooms door to door throughout the Greater Portland Area for some 44 years.

He moved to independent living in the 1980s, but maintained his association with the Iris Network.

He received many awards and was honored as the Iris Network Worker of the Century on Sept. 30, 2005, after 69 years of service.

He was an avid collector of postcards and a man of many interests. He enjoyed music and loved attending the performances of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He liked to travel on trips sponsored by the Portland Parks and Recreation Department. He was a member of the Beacon Club. He was known as a kind and gentle person. He was a communicant of St. Joseph’s Church on Stevens Avenue.

He is survived by his sister-in-law, Anita Plourde of Auburn; his nieces and nephews, Roger Plourde and his wife, Mary, of Flemington, N.J., Patricia St. Pierre and her husband, Normand, of Old Orchard Beach, Donald Morin and his wife, Cheryl, of Auburn and Monique Laliberte and her husband, David, of Groton, N.H.; along with many great and great-great-nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his sister, Semida Morin in 2003; his brother, Lionel Plourde in 1984; and two nephews, Richard Morin in 1971 and Larry Morin in 2003.