Arthur Lerman, 76, transitioned from Earth peacefully on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, having lived a life of adventure and service dedicated to helping others and making a difference in the world. He considered himself an ordinary person committed to achieving extraordinary things. He chose to end his full and rewarding life as he had lived it, on his own terms.
Arthur was born in Biddeford to Beatrice and Paul Lerman. He graduated from Biddeford High School and then attended Clark University in Worcester, Mass., where he majored in geography with a focus on environmental studies. He also served in the Coast Guard Reserve for six years at this time.
After graduation, Arthur worked on the Natural Areas Inventory of the State of Maine and a Coastal Protection Priorities Plan for The Nature Conservancy, and then enrolled in the regional planning program at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the next few years, Arthur taught at Unity College, where he co-developed an environmental planning program. He later served as planning director for the city of Saco.
In 1978, Arthur spent five months traveling (by bus, train, bicycle, rickshaw, elephant, and hitchhiking) from London, U.K., through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, to Kathmandu, Nepal, where he worked as a consultant on projects for UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and USIS.
After his return to the U.S., Arthur started a company specializing in land use and environmental and energy planning. He wrote the first set of comprehensive environmental protection regulations for the state of Maine’s Site Location of Development Law and Coastal Wetlands Law. As the special assistant to the director of the Maine Office of Energy Resources, Arthur wrote laws establishing statewide minimum energy building and appliance standards.
In the late 1970s, Arthur was involved in efforts to close Maine Yankee nuclear power plant. He was chair of the Greater Portland Nuclear Referendum Committee and later became one of the leaders of the Maine Nuclear Referendum Committee. The effort was life changing, as he became engaged in the political process and made lasting friendships.
In 1980, Arthur married Jean Fergusson, of Whitefield, who would be his partner for 16 years. He was also elected to the Maine Democratic State Committee. Over the next 25 years, he was chair of various state, county, and town committees, as well as the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.
In the mid-1980s, Arthur started working on long-term care issues, first on traumatic brain injury rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s disease, and then, from 1990 on, advocating for and providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities. At this time, he developed his career mantra of commitment to optimizing clients’ physical well-being, self-expression, and the experience of joy. One of the many innovative programs initiated under Arthur’s leadership was “A Matter of Perception,” an annual juried art show for artists with disabilities hosted at the Portland Museum of Art in partnership with Very Special Arts Maine.
In 1999, Arthur married Donna (Duplessis) Marcus, of Augusta, gaining four stepchildren in the process. He said the children were a “blessing in his life.”
Arthur served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives and was an active member of several committees. His more notable accomplishments were starting a Developmental Disabilities Caucus within the Legislature, sponsoring legislation to provide financial support for dairy farmers, and requiring pharmaceutical companies to disclose the results of all clinical trials.
Arthur loved to experience new places and cultures. Upon retirement, he and Donna spent several adventurous months traveling in Europe and living in Barcelona. He also loved the performing arts, and he and Donna volunteered as ushers at several theaters. In addition, Arthur enjoyed cooking, gardening, and landscaping, and was a great lover of animals.
In addition to his wife Donna, Arthur will be dearly missed by his four stepchildren and five grandchildren: Fay and her daughter, Ava, of Gastonia, N.C.; Dara and her husband, Adam Wilkins, of Ottawa, Canada; Ben and his wife, Taryn, and sons Leo and Rudy, of Whitefield; and Jenna and her daughters, Ananda and Phoebe, also of Whitefield. He is also survived by his sister, Diana King, of St Petersburg, Fla., and his first wife Jean Fergusson, of Whitefield.
To honor Arthur’s love of gardens and greenery, a celebration of life will be held in Whitefield on April 18, 2026 at 2 p.m. Those who wish are invited to do one kind deed per day in his memory. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Doctors Without Borders or Heifer International.
