Geraldine Lachance was living legacy for Lisbon’s Coombs-Mountford Legion post

By Brian Govang

LISBON — When I got there the parking lot was full, there were cars parked on the lawn, all over the place. I had never seen the American Legion Post that full, at least 100 people. Geraldine Lachance had been a member of the American Legion Auxiliary forever, you see. She was almost a centenarian.
Geraldine was truly loved by the American Legion’s members, and why not, I thought to myself. So, entering the packed hall, I searched out her sons Jack and Red LaChance for advice on where to start. Jack had a simple answer — he said “start at the beginning.” That was easier said than, done but I did it.

So here goes. Geraldine had been born to George and Mary Bickford in Pittsfield on Jan. 6, 1918. She went to business college in Springfield, Mass., and when she returned home she went to work with her husband, Paul Lachance, at the gas station and garage they owned. She then went to work at several of the local mills and shoe factories.
I got to meet her when Jack LaChance (Jack spells it LaChance, Geraldine spelled it Lachance) wanted me to write a history of the Legion for submission to Maine Discover Magazine. The subject of the interview was to be the history of the Coombs-Mountford American Legion Post 158 in Lisbon. Now, I really didn’t expect much from a woman that I thought at the time was 95 years old, but was I surprised.

I found Geraldine was actually 98 and six months, just 18 months from being a centurion, at the time of the interview, and as sharp as a tack. When I outlined what information I needed for the story, she started right in. It seems her memory was defeating all the odds and was exceptionally clear, and I had found a real treasure.
Geraldine started high school about 1931. Robert Mountford had a convertible car and would take them all to school functions and dances. She said that he was the nicest boy, always looking after them. She remembered the Coombs and Mountford boys clearly. Geraldine gave me this insight on the posts namesakes.
The Coombs-Mountford American Legion Post 158 was dedicated to those courageous men in 1949. Shortly after that, Geraldine joined the American Legion Auxiliary and has stayed an active member until she passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Aug. 15. AT 99, she had been the oldest active member of the American Legion post.
She has been survived by four children, Larry LaChance and his wife, Sandy; Alan “Red” LaChance, a Legion member; Jack LaChance, a Legion trustee, and his wife, Anne; and Cynthia Waldron and her significant other, Robert Lally.
At the Aug. 25 celebration of life, auxiliary members prepared food for the guests and others brought their favorite dishes from home. Janice Jordan, our auxiliary chaplain, read the invocation prayer to start the celebration of life ceremony, while Cindy Pomelow, the auxiliary president, looked on, Geraldine’s life in photos behind them. Shehe was a real “beauty” in her younger years, a truly “gracious’lady” in her later life.
Gail Marcouillier, Terry Hall, Gracie Farnham, Paulette King, Jordan and Pomerlow set out platters of food. The auxiliary did a wonderful job preparing the hall and the refreshments, and the LaChance family, as well as the Legion members present, really appreciated the ladies’ efforts, and thanks the ladies of Coombs-Mountfort Post 158 Auxiliary for a job well done.