Obituary of Francis C. Marsano

            Francis C. Marsano, born September 8, 1936 in Bangor, Maine, the child of Alton L. and Gertrude (Mannette) Marsano, passed away on November 30, 2024 at his home in Belfast. He was 88 years old.

 

            Francis spent his early, formative years in Belfast, long his family’s home, but moved to Quincy, Massachusetts because of World War II. He graduated from North Quincy High School in 1954 and, as a State of Maine Scholar at Bowdoin College, began his childhood dream of returning to Maine. He graduated from Bowdoin with a BA in 1958 and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve. He was deferred from active military service so he could complete his law school education, as a Beatrice Davis Trust Scholar, at the University of Michigan Law School. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1961 and was admitted to practice both in Maine and Massachusetts in that year. He practiced briefly in Belfast during 1961 but went on active duty as a 1st Lieutenant with the 3rd Missile Battalion of the 43rd Artillery where he served as a Battalion Adjutant and Headquarters Company Commander. He was honorably discharged as a Captain in 1965.

 

            Francis returned to Belfast and re-entered the practice of law with Lorrimer K. Eaton and Richard W. Glass. He became partner in the firm, which became known as Eaton, Glass and Marsano but was changed to Eaton, Glass, Marsano, and Woodward when Lee Woodward, Jr. joined the firm in 1980. He remained in practice until 1993 when he left to become a Justice of the Maine Superior Court, the first lawyer from Belfast to be appointed to that Court. He was nominated to that position twice, once by Governor John McKernan and once by Governor Angus King. He was confirmed by the Legislature each time and served as a Superior Court Justice until he retired in 2001. Governor John Baldacci appointed him to the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices in 2007.

 

            As a lawyer, Francis was involved in many areas of his profession. He was initially very active in real estate law and became chair of the Maine Bar Association’s Committee on Real Estate and Title Standards. He served in the capacity from 1976 to 1984 during which time he was twice in charge of the publication of the Title Standards of the Maine State Bar Association. His work led to his becoming a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. He was awarded a Citation by the Maine State Bar Association in 1984 for his years of service.

 

            He then ran for and was elected as a member of the Board of Governors of the Maine State Bar Association. He served five years on that Board and was elected President of the Maine State Bar Association in 1988, the first Waldo County lawyer in the 100-year history of the Association to be elected president. He ended his service on the Board of Governors of the Maine Bar Association in 1989. He continued to be an active member of several committees, was a speaker at a number of real estate seminars during the ensuing years, and made a presentation respecting Maine law in Quebec in 2001. He received a Life Member Award from the Maine Bar Association in 2012.

 

            A long time attorney for local school districts, he became interested in that field and was a Member of the National Council of School Board Attorneys and a Member of the Executive Committee of the Maine Council of School Board Attorneys.

           

            Francis was also active on several committees of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. He began his work on the Court’s Advisory Committee on Court Administration in 1976 and served on that committee until he became a member of the original Board of Overseers of the Bar of Maine in 1978. He served two three-year terms on that Board completing his service in 1984. Francis also served as a Member of the Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules from 1992 until 1993 when he was appointed to the bench. As a justice, he served on the original Family Law Advisory Committee.

 

            Francis was elected three times to terms in the House of Representatives of the Maine Legislature beginning in 1986. During his first term he served on the Judiciary Committee and often pointed out that during his first term, he was in Legislative Leadership serving as the Assistant Republican Floor Leader. He served on the Legislative Council and was a member of the Personnel Committee. He was proudest of his bill that led to full equitable jurisdiction for the Maine District Court. He styled it as a “Bill to Attain Affordable Justice for Middle Class Mainers.”

 

            He became a member of the American Bar Association in 1972 and was elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in 1988. He became a Life Member of the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation in 1997. Francis was a Charter Fellow and Life Member of the Maine Bar Foundation.

 

            Francis was also active in his community. He served for more than twenty years on the Boards of the Waldo County YMCA, of which he was president, and the Penobscot Marine Museum. In both organizations, he sought to aid the children of Waldo County. It was that goal which led, in earlier years, to his being a Founding Incorporator of the Waldo County Commission for Social Action in 1964 that was the initial sponsor of the program known as Head Start. He served on that Board as well as the Boards of the Mid Coast Mental Health Association and the Waldo County General Hospital. He was Chairman of the Waldo County March of Dimes for several years in the 1960s and was the President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Northport Golf Club.

 

            Among his many outdoor activities, none appealed to Francis more than his many trips to Mount Katahdin. Although he hiked mountains all over the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia, his greatest pleasure was to introduce Katahdin, “the mountain of the people of Maine” to his friends. His children all climbed with him, his daughter being on Baxter Peak with him when she met the minimum climbing age of six; his sons were seven when they reached Baxter Peak for the first time. He climbed all of Katahdin’s trails and went to Baxter Peak at least 70 times during more than 50 years. He celebrated his 70th’s birthday with his children and daughter-in-law Nichole as they climbed Abol Trail to Baxter Peak in the September of 2006. In August of 2012, just two weeks before his 76th birthday, he and his son, Gregg, who was celebrating his 30th anniversary of his first climb up Katahdin, hiked the Cathedral Trail to Baxter Peak.

 

            After his retirement from the Superior Court of Maine, Francis spent his winter months in Winter Haven, Florida where he enjoyed many outdoor activities especially being a member of the Bok Tower Gardens to which he took many of his friends and visitors. He lived at Cypresswood and was a member of the Cypresswood Golf and Country Club.

 

            He is survived by his three children, Douglas V. Marsano, his wife Nichole, and their two children, Ruth and Evelyn, of Seattle, WA; Gregg Warner Marsano and his three children, Amelia, Maxwell, and Silas, of Philadelphia, PA; and Meghan J. Marsano Yoho, her husband Sean, and their two children, Mariam and Anika, of Charlotte, NC.

 

            At Francis’ request, there will be no memorial service. Committal will be at a later date in the Marsano lot of the Grove Cemetery in Belfast. Those who wish may make memorial donations to the Children’s Scholarship Fund at the Waldo County YMCA.

 

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