PRESQUE ISLE – Neil E. Michaud, 93, died Jan. 5, 2008, at a Presque Isle hospital. He was born Oct. 4, 1914, in Pres-que Isle, the son of John B. and Victoria (Labbe) Michaud. He attended Presque Isle schools, graduating from high school in the Class of 1932. He was married to Antoinette S. “Toni” Theriault, June 15, 1937, in Caribou, with whom he shared 62 years of marriage, until her death, July 15, 1999. While in high school he was a member of the basketball team that won the 1932 State Championship, the first and only state championship since that time. In April 1985, the team members were awarded membership to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame. He was active in many community activities: being elected president of the Rev. E. Milton Grant Community Recreation Program, president of the Presque Isle Lions Club in 1946, served as secretary and treasurer for several years, also as District 41-O cabinet secretary-treasurer, also district deputy, was made a life member in 1996 of Lions International and a Melvin Jones Fellow in 1994, and remained a member of the Presque Isle Lions Club until his death. He was also an honorary member of the Mapleton Lions Club, life member of the Rev. John J. Harris Council No. 2524, having been elected grand knight in 1944, also as faithful navigator of Assembly No. 0363 Knights of Columbus in 1943. He also had served as district deputy for five and one half years, was past president of Presque Isle Chapter of Barbershoppers and past treasurer of Probus Club of Central Aroostook. In 1992 he was awarded the Lifetime Achieve-ment Award for the city of Presque Isle. In 1996 he was made a member of the Maine Campground Owners Hall of Fame, was a member of TAMC Corporate Board for many years and served as treasurer of TAMC Endowment under several endowment presidents. He lived in Presque Isle his entire life. He started in the potato brokerage, packing and shipping business in 1934, working for the Budreau Co., for 19 years; bought the company out and continued for another 19 years on his own under the name of Budreau-Michaud Co. In 1957 he organized the first truck brokerage firm in Aroostook County under the name of Neil E. Michaud Truck Brokerage Co., creating a way of shipping Maine potatoes by truck to destinations east of the Mississippi. He built a new complete truck stop on the Houlton Road in 1961 and continued this business for 10 more years. In 1971 he originated the Neil E. Michaud Campground, Presque Isle’s first campground for recreational and camping vehicles, and it is owned and operated today by his daughter and son-in-law. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by sisters, Loulia, Florilda, Frances and Irene; and by brothers, Alphonse, Leon, Patrick and Harry. Neil was the last survivor in the John B. Michaud family. He is survived by his daughter, Barbara S. Kinney and her husband, Robert, of Presque Isle; one grandson, Robert N. Kinney and his wife, Tonya, of Jacksonville, Fla.; one granddaughter, Julie and her husband, Dean Knight, of Mapleton; five great-grand-children, Chancey, Sarah and Gavin Kinney, Jarred and Jeanna Knight. Relatives and friends may call 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at Duncan-Graves Funeral Home, 30 Church St., Presque Isle. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Presque Isle, with the Rev. Raymond Morency celebrant. A spring interment will be at St. Mary’s North Main Street Cemetery, Presque Isle. Those who wish may make gifts in his memory to the St. Mary’s Social Action Fund, P.O. Box 813, Presque Isle, ME 04769. Condolences may be expressed at www.duncan-graves.com.
NEIL E. MICHAUD
