Benefactors establish 2 scholarships at UMFK

FORT KENT – Maxine Page, a former English teacher at Community High School in Fort Kent, and the late Harry Etscovitz, a former Fort Kent-area businessman, touched the lives of many through decades of service.

And their spirit will continue with generations of northern Maine young people through scholarships established at the University of Maine at Fort Kent the past two months.

Page, who now lives in Portland, is a 1931 graduate of the Madawaska Training School, a predecessor of UMFK.

For decades she taught school in the St. John Valley at Eagle Lake and Fort Kent.

Born in Eagle Lake in 1913, she was the top student in her training school graduating class. She also received degrees from Gorham State Teachers College, a forerunner of the University of Southern Maine, and the University of Maine. She was married to Roland Page, a Fort Kent lawyer, who died in 1984.

Thousands of northwestern St. John Valley children, at the elementary level at Winterville and Eagle Lake, and as sophomore English students at Community High School and at MTS, were educated by Page.

“She provided inspiration to many of her students to better their lives through education. Through hard work and dedication, my mother achieved a college education and used her teaching career to improve the lives of many children,” said Jack Page, one of her sons.

Page, his brother Jim and sisters Carole Martin, Nancy Felini and Peg Crowley established a scholarship endowment fund at UMFK as an 87th birthday gift for their mother. In addition to the family gift, General Electric Co. matched the gift made by Jack, a GE employee.

“This fund will assist area students, making it possible for them to attend UMFK and realize the same dream that Maxine Gagnon Page achieved and later encouraged her children and grandchildren to attain,” said Charles Lyons, president of UMFK.

Etscovitz, born in New York City, lived most of his life in Fort Kent. He was the first student from Community High School to attend Harvard University, from which he graduated with honors in 1942.

He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in World War II and returned to Fort Kent in 1945 to take over ownership of his father’s business, Etscovitz Chevrolet. He operated the dealership, started by Jacob Etscovitz, and expanded it to Madawaska, for more than four decades.

Harry Etscovitz through the years was also co-owner of the Fort Kent Telephone Co., president of Esco Potato Brokerage Co. and president of Etscovitz Potato Co.

He also was involved in his community.

He served on the Town Council, was a member and president of the Fort Kent Chamber of Commerce, a trustee of the Fort Kent Library, a member of the UMFK Foundation board, a director of the Northern Maine Medical Center for more than 30 years, a charter member of the Fort Kent Gold Club, a member of the Fort Kent Lions Club, and a more-than-50-year member of the Fort Kent Masonic Lodge. He also volunteered with the American Red Cross and the Partnership for Tobacco Free Maine.

Over the years he was named Fort Kent’s Citizen of the Year, received the NMMC board of trustees’ Service Award, a Dedication Award from the golf club, and a Distinguished Service Award from UMFK in 1984.

Etscovitz was one of the Fort Kent community leaders instrumental in the establishment and development of the nursing program at UMFK in 1981. He and his wife, Marilyn, were active members of the program’s advisory board until his death.

Etscovitz died at the age of 79 at the end of October.

The scholarship fund, in the couple’s name, will benefit students seeking a bachelor of science degree in nursing at UMFK.

“The contributions of Harry Etscovitz to the St. John Valley and UMFK communities will have a positive impact on the region and university for decades to come,” Lyons said. “This scholarship fund is a most fitting tribute to a man who valued the benefits of lifelong learning and so loved this area and its people.”

Gifts in memory of Harry Etscovitz may be sent to the Harry and Marilyn Etscovtiz Nursing Scholarship Fund, care of the president’s office at UMFK.