Tribute to Pat Fortune
By Roger Brodeur
It is with great sadness that I inform you that Patricia Louise
Rausch Fortune, one of our most giving and caring foster parents,
passed away unexpectedly on March 29, 2007. Pat and her husband
Bill provided care for many foster and adopted children since they
first became licensed on August 4, 1994. They have been part of the
Maine Caring Families program since the program began as a pilot
project, over 10 years ago. Pat was an amazing woman who inspired
many children to rise above difficult situations and enjoy life.
Pat’s easy going way, her ability to take life’s challenges and turn
them around and her show of empathy towards all people was a shining
example to all that knew her. Pat was always on the go. She was the
foster parent that we all looked towards to help out if a need
arose, whether it was to take in a hurt child, mentor a new foster
parent or be the voice of the foster parent community – we could
count on her to get it right. Pat was a strong voice for children,
foster parents, and was an active participant in the Maine Caring
Families Advisory Committee and the statewide foster parent advisory
committee. She was involved in training new caseworkers and foster
parents as a regular member on panel presentations. She was an
informal foster parent mentor for many years, and has been an
official foster parent mentor since that program started over a year
ago. Her passion in life was a total dedication to making sure
children had a structured home environment and the promise of a
fully independent life and higher education. Pat was a pillar of
strength, intelligence and perseverance, a beautiful person inside
and out. She will surely be missed by many. However, no one can
doubt that she always strived to make this world a better place, and
that many people’s lives were enhanced due to her purpose and
passion. She certainly did leave this world a better place.
|
Tribute and Thanks To Pat
By Suzette
Gilbert, LCSW, MCF
Therapeutic foster parent, Pat Fortune, died suddenly on March 29,
2007, leaving her family and community saddened and stunned at the scope
of the loss. Pat’s heart and her presence were available to teach and
nurture others, especially young people who needed a helping hand along
the way. Pat and her husband, Bill, adopted four sons and fostered over
50 children. They also proudly raised a foster daughter as their own.
Any young person who lived at the Fortune’s was fortunate indeed.
Bill and Pat worked beautifully together as a team, nurturing,
teaching and loving young people back to health and well being. Her
advocacy on her children’s behalf was informed, effective and practical.
Her advocacy for fellow foster parents was ongoing at the home, the
community and the state level. As a teacher, she was gifted and
determined. For years she tutored many special needs children at the
Lithgow Public Library. She touched so many people’s lives in a positive
and giving way, that the resonance of those acts will carry on through
generations to come. I was privileged to be Pat’s MCF support worker
for nine and a half years. I met with her every Tuesday in a variety of
settings, including the parking lot of the bowling alley! Every week I
left those meetings informed, affirmed and impressed. Pat was a natural
teacher, but mostly she was a nurturing presence that shined her
generosity of spirit on all who knew and worked with her.
Pat will be missed deeply by many, but her vision of compassion and
justice will live on in those of us lucky enough to have known her and
benefited from her kindness and her caring and wisdom. |
|
These tear stained faces that ask
Will you give me a home?
Oh where can I put you
how can I manage one more
Then I look down into your face
And open my door
To comfort, to care
For they all cry out for love
But need so much more
I have a need to nurture these seeds
To watch them grow
To protect them from the storms
They will come and go
These tear stained faces
So sad and alone
They don’t know it yet
They have arrived home
Faces of all colors, ages, and backgrounds
It doesn’t matter it never will
They join my family are a part of my tree
Forever fruitful
Forever it will be.
By Wanda Wyman, Pat’s Sister-in-law
|
