- Date Of Birth: May 28, 1933
- Date Of Death: October 14, 2016
- State: Maine
Edwin H. Pert, 83
Noted Maine Public Servant
Portland- Edwin H Pert, 83, passed away peacefully on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016 at Maine Medical Center. He was born in Bath, Maine in 1933 to Perleston L. Pert, Sr. and Katherine M. Pert and kept Bath in his heart every day. Graduating from Morse High School in 1950, he caught the political bug and went on to study Government at the University of Maine in Orono. After receiving his BA from UMaine in 1954, he became an energetic and respected leader of the Democratic Party in Maine for the remainder of his life.
In 1974, Ed was elected as the Clerk of the Maine House of Representatives, a post in which he excelled for 18 years, coordinating the enormous volume of material involved with lawmaking and guiding new representatives through the process. Many of these citizen lawmakers continue to remember him with gratitude and affection for his mentorship. Also during this time he spent a term as the President of the National Professional Society of the Clerks of the House, served as a Georgetown Selectman, sat on several civic boards, and built a new home in the Robinhood section of Georgetown. As a Notary Public Ed also performed several marriages.
He retired from the legislature in 1992, leaving the office of clerk with integrity and efficiency. Unity College honored his years of public service with an Honorary Doctorate in 1993, the Maine Women’s Lobby bestowed upon him the Integrity-Leadership-Vision Award in 1988, and Georgetown named him Citizen of the Year in 2003.
For the last two decades, Ed could be seen around Georgetown and Bath nearly every day communing with friends, mentoring younger folks, and spreading good cheer. He relished meeting new people and would extend his hand with a cheerful “Hi, I’m Ed Pert!” His love of travel never diminished, enjoying trips ranging from Downeast Maine to Florida to extended trips to Northern Europe, particularly Scandinavia. He loved circuses, gourmet food, wine, the ocean and the visual and performing arts. He was forever and always an ambassador for Maine, the Democratic Party, Georgetown and his beloved hometown of Bath.
Ed was predeceased by his parents, a sister Eunice (Pert) Dow of Wiscasset, a brother Perleston L. “Bub” Pert, Jr of Topsham and a nephew the noted Maine cartoonist, Jeff Pert. He is survived by his sisters Jacqueline (Pert) Fossett of Cumberland Center and Catherine (Pert) Biette of Topsham, his sister-in law, Jacqueline Pert of Topsham, and several nieces and nephews and their families: Jon Pert of Falmouth, Jennifer Pert Russo of New Gloucester, Judy Pert of Roslindale, MA, Bruce Biette of Portland, Julie Skelton of Topsham, Doreen Corum of Randolph, James Dow of York, PA, Daniel Fossett of Cumberland, Betsy Birge of Liberty, and John Fossett of Hollis.
