STANDISH- Nan Heald, 66, died on January 20th of complications of cancer at her home surrounded by family and friends. Nan Heald was born on Oct. 10, 1955, in Rumford, Maine, the child of Donald and Ann Heald. She grew up in Oquossoc, Maine on the banks of Rangeley Lake where her parents ran Heald Camps, and where Nan entertained visiting families' children. In 1974, Nan graduated from Gould Academy and moved to western Massachusetts where she attended Smith College. At Smith, Nan’s housemates in Cushing House became lifelong friends. She graduated from Smith in 1977 and from George Washington University Law School in 1980.
In 1985, she joined Pine Tree Legal Assistance, as a staff attorney in its Native American Unit. Her primary responsibility in that position was to redress the exclusion of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs from the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, which was eventually achieved through passage of federal legislation providing federal recognition to the tribe.
In 1990, at the age of 34, Nan became Executive Director of Pine Tree Legal Assistance and continued in the role for the last 32 years. Through the creative use of funding opportunities and other leveraged support, her leadership has enabled Pine Tree to strengthen and expand legal services to diverse client populations and in new areas of law, and to make justice more accessible for all the people of Maine. When she became Executive Director, Pine Tree had a budget of $2.8 million; it has since expanded to over $7 million and has a thriving fundraising program and an endowment.
Under Nan’s leadership, Pine Tree has become a nationally recognized leader in innovative uses of technology to advance access to justice and legal aid. Nan encouraged the innovative use of technology to expand access to legal information and self-help tools, an effort which began in 1996 with creation of www.ptla.org, as the first legal aid website in the country to include self-help resources. By constantly adding high quality and user-friendly original content, the website remains one of the most popular legal aid websites in the country.
Nan has expanded access to legal aid for many vulnerable populations in Maine. Under her leadership, Pine Tree formed Maine’s first and only children’s law project, Kids Legal, significantly expanded support to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and launched programs serving low-income veterans, including a medical-legal partnership at Maine’s VA hospital and StatesideLegal.org, a national website for veterans and service members. StatesideLegal.org has been commended by the Pentagon as an "innovative community practice" and a recent VA directive encourages its use for homeless veterans. Other projects developed under Nan’s leadership include a clinic for low-income taxpayers, a nationally recognized foreclosure and consumer program, and a housing discrimination.
Nan served on the LSC Eviction Task Force, the LSC Veterans Task Force, and the Advisory Committee of Providers to Maine's Justice Action Group. She has served on the national LSC Task Force on Pro Bono, the Maine Judicial Branch’s Advisory Committee on Fees, and the ABA Veterans Legal Services Commission.
Nan was recognized as one of the inaugural Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2005), selected as a MaineBiz “Woman to Watch” (2010), received the ACLU’s Justice Louis Scolnik Award (2010), was honored by the White House as a Champion of Change (2015), and received the Maine Justice Foundation’s Howard H. Dana Award (2018). She has also been honored for her work by the Maine Veterans Coordinating Committee and the Maine Judicial Branch, among others.
In addition to being one of Maine’s legal luminaries, Nan was beloved by her family, friends, and community. She will be remembered for the personal relationships she built and the many lives she touched through regular runs to the farmers market, or the plethora of stores Nan frequented during her Saturday grocery shopping.
Throughout her life, Nan had her Smith friends, the Pine Tree community, and the many other communities she made along the way, which oftentimes, burgeoned into extended family. In 1996, Nan, with her mother, traveled to China to bring home her daughter Katherine Bei Heald. Bei was the great joy of Nan’s life. As a single parent Nan created her own family for Bei, including a network of neighbors who frequently congregated for Sunday night barbecues. Her house had a garden admired for its natural beauty; gardening was a lifelong hobby, as was feeding the birds. Nan was a proud graduate of “tomato university” and spent countless hours gardening. On holidays–especially Thanksgiving, her favorite–Nan opened her home to all of her various communities and hosted a meal where anyone was welcome.
In 2004, Nan married Frank D’Alessandro and welcomed into her life his children as well as (a few years later) an infamous malamute puppy named Luna. Nan is the love of Frank’s life and many friends commented on how much Frank and Nan adored each other.
Nan’s love for Oquossoc was ever present and she returned to vacation there every summer of her adult life, where the perfect day started with a lake swim, included blueberry picking, a moose or bald eagle sighting, and ended with a s’more or other “touch of sweet.”
She is survived by her husband, Frank D’Alessandro, her daughter, Katherine Bei Heald, her two step children Daniel D’Alessandro and Kate Strebe, their two children, Frankie and Zoe, as well as numerous dear friends.
A celebration of her life will be held on Friday, February 4, 2022 at 2pm at Grace, 15 Chestnut St, Portland Maine. A reception will follow. Masks are required for the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Nan’s memory can be made to the Nan Heald Fund at Pine Tree Legal Assistance by mailing a check to Pine Tree Legal Assistance, PO Box 547, Portland, ME 04112 or making a donation on our website. If you wish to send flowers, they can be sent to Pine Tree Legal Assistance, 88 Federal Street, Portland, Maine and they will be brought to the service.
We are in the process of making a plan to live stream the event for those who are unable to attend due to travel or COVID reasons. More information will be posted on the Remembering Nan Heald page of Pine Tree’s website as it becomes available.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service, Buxton, www.mainefuneral.com