EMILE PHILIPPE POULIOT, life-long resident of Manchester, NH, died on May 24, 2010 at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.
Emile was born on December 4, 1925 along with his twin brother Alfred, the son of Edouard Pouliot and Laura (Drapeau) Pouliot. He attended local schools and sang in the Ste. Marie's Grammar School Choir.
He attended Hevey School, Assumption College High School in Worcester, MA, and St. Joseph’s High School, graduating in 1943. He graduated from Hesser Business College in Manchester, NH in 1952.
Emile worked at Eddie's Lunch, his family's Amory Street diner and catering service, from an early age until 1947. In 1944, he was inducted into the United States Navy, training at the Sampson (N.Y.) Naval Base. He served in Panama until 1946 as a radioman, receiving an honorable discharge with the rank of Radioman Third Class, as there was no school for radiomen.
He was a member of the New Hampshire Jockey Club, Inc., and in 1953, of the Manchester Amateur Radio Club, formerly atop Mount Unconnunic. He served as Disaster Chairman and First-Aid Mobile Unit with the American Red Cross for ten years. He served as Cubmaster for Pack 112 at St. Georges parish. He received the Scout's Key Training Plan in October 1968. In February 1967, he completed the Shelter Manger Program with the New Hampshire Civil Defense Agency and the University of New Hampshire. He served in 1974 as chairman of Health and Safety for the Daniel Webster Council of the Boy Scout of America's Rockhill District. In 1978, he chaired St. Georges Troop 112.
Emile retired from the Manchester's Veterans Administration Hospital in 1990 after 40 years of service, culminating as Medical Officer of the Day in the Medical Administration Division. He was a member of the VA Executive Volunteer Service (VAVS) Committee in since 1999 and a VAVS Deputy. He was appointed as a Eucharistic Minister at the VA Chapel. He received recognition for 3225 hours and 17 years of volunteer service at the VA.
After his service in the Navy, Emile became a member of the Catholic War Veterans (CWV) where he served in a variety of posts. In 1955, he was Post Commander for Louis A. Ramsay Post 1624, based at the then St. John the Baptist Church. In 1959, at the CWV's national convention, he became New Hampshire's first winner of the CWV's National Historian Award. In 1979, he was elected to the post of State Commander for the New Hampshire CWV. He served as Post Commander of St. George's Post 1788 in Manchester, and as Adjutant. From 1981 to 2001, he was Co-chairman of the CWV and CWV Auxiliary State Scholarship Program. In 1986 he received the CWV's Henry J. Dionne Award as outstanding member of the year for the CWV's New Hampshire State Department. In 1987, he was awarded first place for the National Department for the Catholic Action Program and second place for the Americanism and Civic Program. He served as membership chairman for the CWV's State Department. In 2003, he was awarded 2nd place on the CWV national level as membership chairman for the New Hampshire CWV.
Emile devoted much of his free time to volunteering for numerous parish activities and fundraisers at Manchester’s St. Georges Church, where he served as a Eucharistic Minister and member of the Adult Choir with the Holy Cross nuns. In 1958, he appeared with his family on WMUR-TV’s “The Catholic Program,” with Father Savage, explaining the Advent Wreath Program, sponsored by the CWV and CWV Auxiliaries. In 1963, he attended one of the first “Cursillo” weekend programs held in New England. At Christmastime, Emile’s religious devotion was on view at his home on Pearl Street. For 49 years, starting in 1958, he set up a hand-painted, life-sized outdoor Christmas manger scene surmounted by the motto, “Keep Christ in Christmas.”
Emile is succeeded by Jean and Carol Pouliot of Newburyport, Massachusetts, Paul and Catherine Pouliot of Manchester and Pierre and Colleen Pouliot of Goffstown, as well as by grandchildren Megan, John, James, Mary, Nicholas, Brennan and Devin, brothers & sisters Alfred Pouliot, Edna Paquin, Lorraine O'Donnell and Edouard Pouliot. He is predeceased by his wife Pauline (Hallé) Pouliot, who died in 2002, as well as by two sons, Marc and Albert, who died in infancy.
Services: Calling hours will be at J. N. Boufford & Sons Funeral Home, 110 Bridge Street in Manchester on Wednesday, May 26 from 2pm-4pm and 7pm-9pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10 AM on Thursday, May 27 at The Parish of the Transfiguration in Manchester, with interment following at Mount Calvary Cemetery. Donations can be made in lieu of flowers to the Veterans Administration Volunteer Service (VAVS), The National Kidney Foundation or The New Hampshire chapter or the American Red Cross.