It is with great sadness that I have to report to you the passing of our Division Membership Chairman, Lucien (Lou) Champagne. I had been trying to reach Lou for the past several weeks. Today, after reaching out to Lou’s family via a letter, I was able to speak with Lou’s wife, Marilyn, who told me that Lou died on December 15, 2021.

As some of you know, Lou was afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. It seemed to come on him rapidly over the past couple of years and seriously affected his ability to communicate. He spent several periods of time recovering from various infections over the past 2 years. He eventually succumbed to one of these infections that his body was not strong enough to fight off.

There have been no funeral arrangements made at this time. Marilyn is still working on writing Lou’s obituary. On behalf of the Seacoast Division, I conveyed our condolences to her. For any of you that wish to contact Marilyn, I have her contact information. Please contact me and I will gladly pass that on to you. As I get more information, I will pass it on to you.

Lou was an enthusiastic model railroader. His layout was a joy to operate and I am supremely thankful that I had the opportunity to do that. He was a wonderful person that gave his time and effort to many worthy endeavors such as the Ski Patrol at Sugarloaf and the local volunteer fire department. His work as our Membership Chairman was excellent, and extremely vital to the functioning of our Division. He was a great friend to many of us and he will be sorely missed.

I would like to encourage any of you who knew Lou and have a story about him that you would like to share with us, to please write it up and send it to our Division Webmaster, Dave Delorey, so that it can be posted on the Division website in the Fallen Flags section. Thank you!

Regretfully,

Tage Erickson