ROCKLAND, Maine — Lois Stackpole-Alley said she wanted so much to work until the mortgage on the Methodist Conference Home was paid off in three years.
But the face of the local Meals on Wheels program for nearly 50 years will not get her wish. Stackpole-Alley said Tuesday she is being forced into retirement next month.
“It hurts deeply,” the longtime cook and coordinator of the program said at her desk at the Methodist Conference Home.
Lee Karker, the executive director of MCH, which oversees the Methodist Conference Home and other housing complexes and programs in the region, said the decision was made by the MCH board. He said the decision was made to streamline the Meals on Wheels program and cut costs.
The local Meals on Wheels program began in 1969 with a luncheon served by the women of the Methodist Church in Rockland. Elderly residents could go to the church, located where the Wyeth Center is now, and have lunch. The volunteers eventually asked Stackpole-Alley if she would cook the meals because the women were being called on each day.
Alley also was hired in 1969 to cook meals and oversee the kitchen at the then newly opened Methodist Conference Home on Summer Street.
“My dream was to see the mortgage burned in 2019,” Stackpole-Alley said of the debt on the Methodist Conference Home, which has 48 residents who are elderly or with disabilities.
In 2015, the local Meals on Wheels served meals every weekday to 208 households throughout Knox County with a team of 75 volunteers. The recipients of the meals are elderly residents or people with disabilities who are homebound.
Stackpole-Alley acknowledged she stopped cooking meals several months ago, saying her two replacement knees and a replacement hip make it difficult to navigate in the kitchen. But, she said, she has continued to work hard to screen new recipients for home delivery of meals, organize volunteer drivers, plan meals, handle the government paperwork and fundraise for Meals on Wheels.
MCH issued a news release Monday on Stackpole’s retirement but did not mention that it was mandated by the organization.
“Lois has been the heart and soul of Meals on Wheels in Knox County for almost five decades. She has been at the center of every meal prepared, every volunteer recruited and every meal delivered. We are deeply grateful for her outstanding and dedicated service,” Karker stated in the news release.
“Entering the front door of the Methodist Conference Home in Rockland, one could always enjoy the aromas wafting from Lois’ kitchen. She always sought to find new recipes and flavors to please and knew most of her client’s dietary details from memory. She was like a guardian angel to many who no longer had family to look after them,” the news release stated.
MCH also pointed out that Stackpole-Alley was a tireless advocate for the well-being of the elderly and people with special needs in the community. Last week she was honored by the West Bay Rotary as a Paul Harris Fellow, one of the highest Rotary awards for those who exemplify service above self. Stackpole-Alley also has been honored by the Salvation Army, Rockland Rotary, Camden Rotary, Rockland Kiwanis and the MCH board of directors throughout her career.
Kaker said Tuesday a kitchen manager was hired a year ago at the Methodist Conference Home. The organizing of volunteer drivers will be taken on by the MCH’s volunteer coordinator and the nutrition duties and screening of recipients will be done by the agency’s services director. Karker said MCH has started a new program called Home to Me in which small home repairs and errands can be done for homebound clients.
Stackpole-Alley’s final day on the job will be Aug. 31.
Before being hired at the Methodist Conference Home and Meals on Wheels, she had served for 10 years as the food service director for Camp Oceanwood in Friendship. The summer camp was run by the Perkins School, which served people with disabilities.
Stackpole-Alley said she has been so upset since she was informed last week that she was being forced to retire that she has not thought about what she would do next. The Rockport resident, who declined to give her age, said retirement is not what she planned.
“I believe that if one door slams in front of you, another will open,” Stackpole-Alley said.