EAA board elects first woman president in 35-year history

As the nation contemplates the possibility of electing a woman for president, Eastern Agency on Aging has already taken the plunge.

At the October 2007 annual board of directors meeting, Virginia Fortier was voted in as the first woman president in EAA’s 35-year history.

“I am so involved with the agency and I just wanted to do more,” said Fortier of her tossing her hat into the ring. “I am always interested in things around me and want to continue to learn and be of use to my community. And I want everyone to understand all that Eastern Agency on Aging does for seniors.”

This Old Town girl is no stranger to holding office. She came on the EAA’s advisory council in 1995 while still holding a seat on the Old Town City Council, where she served four terms after a one-term stint on the Old Town school board.

“I was the liaison from the City Council to the Old Town housing authority, and I was recommended to Roberta Downey, the former executive director [of EAA], as a possible choice for the advisory council.”

Though diminutive in stature, Fortier has energy that knows no bounds. She not only joined the advisory council but was president for about a decade. Her political career began in 1980 when her youngest of five children was 17.

“I had always been asked to join things, but I never did because my priority was raising my family,” she said. And taking care of her husband.

“Oh, a friend introduced us at a restaurant after the war and I thought, what a handsome man he was,” she said. “I was smitten. It was love at first sight. And he was always very supportive of anything I wanted to do. He took my papers around to get signatures when I was running for school board. When I won, he said, ‘Welcome to the wonderful world of politics.’ He’d be very proud today.”

Sadly, after 59 years of marriage, Louis Fortier passed away in March. The void his death left in her life is wide, but Fortier is attempting to fill it with activities and nurturing her commitment to serve the community and Eastern Agency on Aging.

“I think the face of aging is easier today than when I was younger,” she said. “While some don’t have financial security today, partly because there weren’t the savings mechanisms in place that we have today, years ago older people had to live with family members because there were no senior housings. Everyone had a elderly family member living with them – it was normal. That is not always the best place for an elderly person. And today, women can drive and live by themselves if they want to. So that has changed for the better.”

And Fortier, who is also on the Old Town Museum board and the President’s Council of Retirees, has advice for other seniors that is really universal and should be heeded by anyone of any age.

“Don’t ever think that you can’t do something,” she said. “Instead, think you can do anything. And part of aging is your gift back to your children and grandchildren. Teach them that you can do whatever you want to do. Grandparents sometimes don’t realize what an effect they have on their grandchildren and what they can do for them.”

I’m sure Fortier’s example has taught her five children, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren well.

“The bottom line is that when you are older, your life doesn’t have to stop, even when your family grows up and you lose your beloved spouse,” Fortier said. “Stay interested in things – life goes on.”

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. E-mail Carol Higgins at chiggins@eaaa.org. For information on EAA, call 941-2865, toll-free (800) 432-7812, e-mail info@eaaa.org or log on www.eaaa.org. TTY 992-0150.