MACHIAS – The man who had the vision and the energy to build the University of Maine at Machias’ Center for Lifelong Learning died last month.

Former UMM President Paul E. Nordstrom was 69.

He was the university’s president from 1992 until 1999.

Nordstrom died at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Wash. His funeral will be held today in Hamilton, Ore., followed by a private burial in Corvallis, Ore.

It was during Nordstrom’s tenure as president that the university kicked off a $3 million capital campaign for Phase I of the Center for Lifelong Learning that included the pool and the Murdock Bookstore, as well as the beginning of a $2.5 million capital campaign for Phase II of the project.

During the 1992 opening convocation, Nordstrom, who was always positive and upbeat with a winning smile, challenged the entire campus to take an active role in the institution’s future. He asked each person in attendance to be an active and positive participant “… to feel the exhilaration, satisfaction and joy that comes from accepting a challenge and seizing an opportunity.”

On Wednesday, the administration at UMM paused to honor its former president. “President Nordstrom played a central role in the growth of UMM, and spearheaded the development of the CLL – a facility that has become a focal point of university and community life in Down East Maine,” UMM President Cynthia E. Huggins said. “The entire UMM community sends its condolences to the Nordstrom family at this difficult time.”

Nordstrom was active on several regional and statewide councils during his tenure at UMM. He served as chairman of the Maine Higher Education Council, which is made up of all public and private colleges in Maine. He was a member of the Maine Community Foundation, and was appointed by the governor to serve on the Commission for Public Service.

“Paul Nordstrom’s passing saddens me,” Susan Palmer, UMM’s former assistant to the president and director of development, said Wednesday. “I had the privilege of working with him for several years during his presidency at UMM and remember most vividly the passion, energy and caring he gave to the campus during his … time in Machias. He was always proud to take UMM’s message and mission across the state and beyond to build relationships with alumni and benefactors that brought the campus to a new level.”

Palmer, who helped Nordstrom spearhead the capital campaign added, “Most importantly, his focused vision on the construction of a Center for Lifelong Learning certainly made the dream become a reality. During this first capital campaign for the campus, more than $4 million was raised. Paul brought to UMM broad philanthropic support critical to the university’s growth and prosperity.”

Locally, Nordstrom also participated in the creation of the Route 1 Committee and the Washington County Leadership Institute. He was an active participant in the Machias Rotary Club, the Down East Community Hospital and the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

Nordstrom chose as his inaugural theme “A Spirit of Community.”

Robert and Carolyn Foster of Cathance Lake knew about Nordstrom’s sense of community spirit.

“Both Bob and I had tremendous respect for Paul. Bob was on the search committee that brought him to the university,” Carolyn Foster said Wednesday. “He had the vision of the Center for Lifelong Learning. It was Paul Nordstrom who was responsible for bringing the community on campus and making a real effort to reach out to everyone.”

Nordstrom came to Maine from Gunnison, Colo., where he was provost and vice president of academic affairs at Western State College of Colorado from 1988 to 1992. Before his arrival at Western State, he served in a variety of faculty and administrative posts at South Dakota State University from 1972 to 1988, including tenure as professor of park management.

Before entering higher education, Nordstrom was assistant superintendent of parks for the city of Billings, Mont., and was a geophysicist for Texaco Inc. He also spent three years in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer, serving as a platoon leader and later executive officer for a guided missile battery based in Fort Hancock, N.J.

A native of Fremont, Neb., Nordstrom was raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota and received his bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of Montana in 1959. He earned his master’s degree and doctorate from Montana State University, and was selected as a trainee by the National Science Foundation.

His wife, Lea, children Kenneth, Steven and Amy and seven grandchildren survive Nordstrom.

The family asks that donations be made to the Paul E. “Doc” Nordstrom Scholarship, SDSU Foundation, Box 525, Brookings, S.D. 57007, the American Cancer Society or a church of their choice.

Missoulian.com news online contributed to this story.