PORTLAND – After 45 years of battling heart disease, my dear husband, Louis, died on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 8 o’clock at night with his loving family around him.

Louis was born July 3, 1936, in the Bronx, NY, to Vito La Vopa and Filomena Giordano La Vopa, who arrived in the United States from Bari, Italy, in 1910. Luigi as his mother called him was the 14th of 15 children and the 7th son in his family. As a young boy he helped in the family business. Louie loved to ride in the bread truck with his brothers. He would run up and down the stairs in the apartment buildings delivering bread to many customers. He attended public schools until his Junior Year. In 1954 he joined the U.S. NAVY and spent 8 years in the Reserves. He enjoyed the comradery of his shipmates. His last cruise was on a destroyer escort ship, the USS DeLong berthed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. (Believe it or not, the Captain of the De Long was from Maine!) Louie loved the cruises and the guys. In June of my Junior year at St. Catharine’s I met Louie at his niece’s Sweet 16 Party. We fell in love the following year and were married a year after that.

Louie attended and graduated from the New York Institute of Technology. His chosen field was Heating and Installation. He graduated highest in his class at NYT and was certified as an Oil Burner Technician. He continued hands on instruction under Henry Parlato, owner of Parlato Brothers Heating and Plumbing Co. in the North Bronx. Louie was a very fast learner and became the top technician in that business. Maria, our first child was 4 months old when we moved to Biddeford, Maine. Louie arrived here in Maine in March of 1963. Maria and I arrived at the end of March that year also. Louie had to put a furnace and heating system in our apartment so he came first to do the installation work. Over 61 years of our lives Louis and I have lived in Maine.

Working for the Biddeford and Saco Coal and Oil Company initially Louie’s reputation as being excellent in his trade quickly got around town and people began calling him after hours and on Saturdays to take care of their heating equipment. Louie’s employer became our biggest account. Louie was licensed by the State of Maine as an Unlimited Master, which meant that he could work on furnaces with more than a 15 gallonage capacity, (for instance, the Pepperell Mill). Louie loved his work and his customers. And, they loved him. He provided 24 hour service, 24/7, to everyone. Elderly folks were never charged for late night calls. The farmers he serviced loved when Louie started taking our boys with him to the farms. While Louie worked on the heating systems our boys played with the chickens and visited the cows etc. The farmers always sent home big baskets of food for us “because we had a growing family” they would say. One older gentleman sent us 2 pet rabbits for our kids to play with outside. Cage, food and all! As our business grew Louie would look for a local teenager as a helper. He always got them from the local gas stations where they would be hanging around doing nothing all day long. Many young boys were taught and apprenticed under Louie in the oil burner installation and repair business and went on to get their licenses. And, they all became good tradesmen; they learned from the best.

When we became a family of 7, we moved to Saco. When Julie arrived we became a family of 8. When our 3 oldest children were in McAuley and Cheverus and the 3 youngest were in St. Mary’s in Biddeford I said let’s move to Portland, and we did. But before we did move Louie got his private pilot’s license out of the small airport in Biddeford. We both enjoyed evening flights back then. Of course, he was the pilot in command. We had lots of fun! Louie loved hanging out with the guys at Biddeford Airport in between service calls. Louie also loved sailing. He purchased a sailboat from 2 USM professors who didn’t know how to take care of a sailboat. It was a mess. Of course, Louie took on the challenge and when repaired the sailboat was beautiful and seaworthy. Our kids and many friends loved to sail with him on the weekends. Louie loved the State of Maine. He loved fishing in the Saco River for Stripers. He loved flying and sailing the coast of Maine, he loved going to the Grand Lake Stream with the airport guys and talked about how the birds would just come along and land on their shoulders or in their hands. And, of course, we had passed through Jackman on our honeymoon. The scenery to Quebec was beautiful.

Another one of Louie’s hobbies was trying to remember the Italian Bread recipe his mother used in the family bake shop many years before. It took him a long time, (Louie was a perfectionist) but a couple of years ago he got his Mom’s recipe down pat. Oh were our kids happy! There was nothing like warm Italian Bread right out of the oven. Soon many neighbors enjoyed Louie’s bread. The word got out that his bread was so good. Another thing Louie loved to do was to visit his parents’ home town in Italy. We took many trips to Southern Italy and the now very big city of Bari. At first the cousins had to really think about who Louie was but when Giovanni said “my father always told me we had family in America” we all knew we were in the right place! We met many members of the La Vopa family and enjoyed their company in all the times we were with them. Over the past years Louie’s Italian language skills has come back to him wonderfully so much so that he was asked numerous times “what year did you leave Italy?” The people there thought he was a “local”. Many phone calls are made, both ways, monthly with everyone just checking in with him. He loved visiting and being with his family all the times we with them in Italy.

Louie is survived by his beloved wife of 63 years, Linda; children, Maria and her husband Michael DiMillo; Vito and his daughter Elita and her husband Francesco and Vito’s son Vito Lorenzo; Louis Vincent and his and family, Adriana, Sabrina, Matteo and Leo; Dominique and her husband Scott Lambert and children Scott Andrew, Antoinette and Sophia; Catherine and her husband Louis Dugal and daughter Elena; Julie and her husband Scott Leahy and their children Jessica and Justin.

Relatives and friends are invited to a time of visitation from 4 – 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, at Jones, Rich and Barnes Funeral Home, 199 Woodfords St., Portland, ME. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated for Louis on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 10 a.m. at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Federal St., Portland, ME. There will be a private committal service for Louis on Monday at New Calvary Cemetery.

Those wishing to send a tribute in Louis memory may do so at http://www.jonesrichandbarnes.com.

A sincere Thank You to all the Doctors, Nurses and CNA’s on Bean 5 at MMC for all the care you gave Louis while he was with you. Another Thank You to all the Nurses and Staff at the Hospice of Southern Maine, Gosnell Memorial Hospice House for their wonderful care of family and patient as well. Thank you All!

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in

Louis’s Name to:

the Gosnell Memorial

Hospice House

390 US Route 1

Scarborough, ME 04074