Mark David LaPointe
June 1, 1941 ~ December 20, 2025
Born in:
Brunswick, Maine
Resided in:
Portland, Maine
Portland – Mark David LaPointe, 84, died peacefully on December 20, 2025, surrounded by family and friends. He was born on June 1, 1941, in Brunswick. He was the second child of the late Robert and Ruth (Spillane) LaPointe’s five children.
Mark was raised in Portland and graduated from Cheverus High School in 1959. In 2014, Cheverus bestowed on Mark the Magis Award, the school’s highest honor which recognizes members of its community living the Jesuit call to be “people for others.” This is evidenced in Mark’s life in the public health service, by his volunteering as a case worker and then president of St Vincent De Paul Society of Stone Mountain, GA, and by his tenure on the board of Catholic Charities of Maine. Caring for others was deeply ingrained in Mark’s ethos – his and his wife’s home was a refuge for family, friends, and even new acquaintances who needed a safe harbor. This included both their children’s friends (and friends’ children) who needed a home away from home as well as young people seeking asylum in the United States.
After Cheverus, Mark attended Assumption University in Worcester, MA and, after graduating in 1963, he was part of an early cohort of the United States Peace Corps. His assignment in Guinea, West Africa led directly to a career with the Centers for Disease Control, first with the Smallpox / Measles Eradication Program and later with CDC’s Center for Global Health. His work moved him and his family to West Africa, New Orleans, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Atlanta, and back to Maine. Later in his career, working for both CDC and the Carter Presidential Center, he returned to West and Central Africa often to coordinate public health projects.
Outside of his career, Mark was a voracious reader and later in life became an excellent home cook. Both interests provided comfort and entertainment to himself and his family. He made sure he was surrounded by a stack of books until his last moments.
Mark’s life was shaped by the love of his high school sweetheart and wife of nearly 60 years, Diane McAvoy LaPointe. He is survived by Diane, their two daughters Mary (Jeffery) Farley of South Portland, and Michelle LaPointe, of Cambridge, MA. He was a beloved PopPop to their grandchildren, Nicholas (Ellie), Teresa, and Margaret Farley.
He is also survived by his four siblings: Christine (Donald) Bartlett, Thomas (Jan Abendroth) LaPointe, Connie (predeceased by Joseph) Brennan, and John LaPointe, and by numerous nieces and nephews and family friends who considered Mark an uncle and mentor. We will all desperately miss Mark’s intellect, wit, and kindness.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11am on January 31, 2026, at St Pius X Church, 492 Ocean Ave., Portland. To view the livestream of the Mass, please visit www.facebook.com/ConroyTullyWalker. The livestream will begin at 10:45am. Arrangements are under the direction of the Conroy-Tully Walker Cremation, Funeral & Gathering Center, 300 Allen Avenue, Portland.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation to Hospice of Southern Maine at 390 US Route One, Scarborough, ME 04074, or online at www.hospiceofsouthernmaine.org/donate. Or to the Catholic Charities of Maine, C/O Development Office, PO Box 10660, Portland, ME 04104-6060.
Services
Mass of Christian Burial: Saturday, January 31, 2026 11:00 am
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Charities
The family greatly appreciates donations made to these charities in Mark David LaPointe 's name.
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Dear Diane and family,
Please accept my sincere condolences on Mark’s passing. He led a remarkable life with his faithful wife by his side. May you feel comforted and strengthened in the prayers that surround you.
Most sincerely,
Condolences to Diane and the entire extended family. For some 60+ years we stayed in contact, a seemingly likeminded socially responsible small group of pioneering Peace Corps Volunteers from a different era and with different backgrounds. We fondly treasured and relished what we did for others which in turn made our personal lives and relationships so wonderful. RIP Mark. Kevin Burke, Cape Cod, Ma.
Rest in peace, old friend. We both had the privilege of knowing Mark for many decades. He was one of the finest. We’ll miss everything about him. Our sincere condolences to Diane, Mary, Michelle and the rest of the family.
My condolence to the Lapointe family. Mark was one of the “good guys.” He had a wonderful sense of humor and an friendly way about him that made our days working summers in a Portland frozen food warehouse more fun than should ever have been expected. Despite years of no contact as our paths diverged, I always valued Mark as my friend, am impressed by his accomplishments and saddened by his passing. May fond memories, faith and the love of family comfort you.
Tom Foley
I had the privilege of serving with Mark on the Cheverus Alumni Council and was a great admirer of him. Condolences to his family and friends. The world was a better place when he was in it. John Flaherty, CHS Class of 1970
I was deeply saddened to hear of Mark’s passing. His guidance and dedication to Catholic Charities Maine’s mission will be remembered fondly by me and all those who served with him on the CCM board of directors.
In honor of his legacy, a donation has been made to Catholic Charities Maine in Mark’s memory.
David R. Madore
Former CCM Board Chair
Both Mark and I worked closely together for several years in Mali, West Africa, eradicating smallpox,and controlling epidemics of yellow fever, cholera, measles, and meningococcal meningitis. Guiding a dozen vaccination teams, we traveled to many back of beyond places where we climbed cliffs, sailed in small canoes, and bounced along dusty trails to reach people who had never received medical care before. In so doing we eventually eradicated smallpox, a disease that had plagued the people of this world of swamps, desert, and mountains, for millenia.
Mark bore all of these hardships with patience, and a deep commitment to helping the disadvantaged. He had been gifted with a dry sense of humor that also included verbal mimicry. This, along with words of wisdom from Diane’s grandfather, greatly lifted the spirits of all of us that had almost wilted in the 120 degree F heat.
Mark and Diane were kind and considerate to me, knowing that as a bachelor then that I was indifferent to diet and the usual routines of family life. I recall once that as the sun was beginning to set I heard footsteps coming across the gravel yard to the house. When I stepped out to look I was moved to tearful joy. Out in front was three year old Mary carrying a chocolate layer cake with a lit candle in the center, followed by Mark who began to sing Happy Birthday.
Mark, Diane and I and my wife became life-long friends whose conversations were filled with accounts of our children. I recall that recently Mark told me that he was so very much looking to his grandson’s wedding.
Mark bore his final illness with courage and patience. He never complained to me about it nor experienced loss of faith in what God had intended for him. I am sure that as le left us he heard the words, “You have done well you good and faithful servant. Enter now into the kingdom that I have prepared for you since before the beginning of time.” Matthew 25:21-23
Both Mark and I worked closely together for several years in Mali, West Africa, eradicating smallpox, and controlling epidemics of yellow fever, cholera, measles, and meningococcal meningitis. Guiding a dozen vaccination teams, we traveled to many back of beyond places where we climbed cliffs, sailed in small canoes, and bounced along dusty trails to reach people who had never received medical care before. In so doing we eventually eradicated smallpox, a disease that had plagued the people of this world of swamps, desert, and mountains, for millennia.
Mark bore all of these hardships with patience, and a deep commitment to helping the disadvantaged. He had been gifted with a dry sense of humor that also included verbal mimicry. This, along with words of wisdom from Diane’s grandfather, greatly lifted the spirits of all of us that had almost wilted in the 120-degree F heat. Mark and Diane were kind and considerate to me, knowing that as a bachelor then that I was indifferent to diet and the usual routines of family life. I recall once that as the sun was beginning to set I heard footsteps coming across the gravel yard to the house. When I stepped out to look I was moved to tearful joy. Out in front was three year-old Mary carrying a chocolate layer cake with a lit candle in the center, followed by Mark who began to sing Happy Birthday.
Mark, Diane, and I and my wife became life-long friends whose conversations were filled with accounts of our children. I recall that recently Mark told me that he was so very much looking to his grandson’s wedding.
Mark bore his final illness with courage and patience. He never complained to me about it nor experienced loss of faith in what God had intended for him. I am sure that as he left us he heard the words, “You have done well you good and faithful servant. Enter now into the kingdom that I have prepared for you since before the beginning of time.” Matthew 25:21-23