Joseph Normand Roger Poulin, 92, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025 at Douglas T. Jacobson State Veteran’s Nursing Home in Port Charlotte, Fla. He was born Feb. 2, 1933 in Lewiston, to Aime Lionel Poulin and Simonne (Dumont) Rita.
Raised in Lewiston he attended St. Peter and Paul grade school and worked teenage jobs such as newsboy, shoe store, and stock boy to pay for his education at St. Dominick’s Parochial High School. He was a 1951 graduate of St. Dom’s.
After graduation he worked as an assistant bookkeeper for a construction firm. Then, in 1951, joined the U.S. Coast Guard and served three years as a radarman (RD-2) aboard a destroyer escort under U.S. Navy special assignment during the Korean conflict.
After his honorable discharge from the U.S. Coast Guard in 1954, he studied international affairs at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, then took a position with the FBI as a file analyst for three years and continued his studies at Georgetown at night. In 1957 he joined Addressograph-Multigraph Corp. in Washington, D.C. as a financial analyst and switched his studies to business management at the University of Baltimore and completed correspondence courses through LaSalle Extension University in Chicago.
In 1959 Joe joined the American Research Bureau (radio/TV audience measurement) in Beltsville, Md. as an administrative assistant in the sales department. In 1970 he moved his family to the New York suburbs and spent five years with Avery-Knodel Inc. as V.P. of television research in New York City. In 1975 he moved to Blair Television and spent 11 years as V.P. of sales research and moved residence to Queens, N.Y. In 1993 Joseph embarked on a career change and worked as an account executive for the Dime Savings Bank of New York in Manhattan. He retired in 1998 and in 2020 moved to Naples, Fla.
In the 1960s, while living in Laurel, Md., Joe was a political activist and member of the Republican Party. He was presented with the Bell Ringer Award by the Republican Party, the 1964 Boss of the Year Award by the Laurel Junior Chamber of Commerce, as well as the 1965 Outstanding Young Men in America award by the Laurel Jaycees.
In 1968 Joe graduated cum laude from the University of Baltimore with a B.S. degree in business management and in 1984 earned an M.S. degree from Brooklyn College and became an associate professor teaching radio and television broadcasting research, at the graduate school.
He earned his first degree black belt in Isshin-Ryu karate and in 1980 became a volunteer self-defense instructor in support of women’s awareness.
His hobbies included reading, genealogy, drawing, martial arts, chess, and mentoring his eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
His wife was the former Adele Wardaczko. He had six children from his first wife, Frances Keating: Gabrielle/Donald Parseghian (Naples, Fla.), Michaelle/Andrew Pascale (Bonita Springs, Fla.), Mark Poulin (Nutley, N.J.), Tim/Elena Poulin (Houston, Texas), Carmelle Poulin (Bonita Springs, Fla.), Danielle/David Boyle (Stockton, N.J.); and a stepdaughter, Christine Nasewicz (Bradenton, Fla.). He has one sister, Patricia (Poulin) West (Bristol); a sister-in-law, Marian (Timberlake) Poulin; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Joseph was preceded in death by his wife; one brother, Roger Poulin, of Oxford; one stepson, Stanley Nasewicz, of Bradenton, Fla.; and one stepdaughter, Barbara Nasewicz, of Queens, N.Y.
Joseph was a proud member of the American Legion and The Elks.
A U.S. Veteran’s committal service with full military funeral honors will take place at a later date at Sarasota National Cemetery, 9810 State Road 72, in Sarasota, Fla.
Donations can be made in Joseph’s name to Saint Dominic Academy, 121 Gracelawn Road, Auburn, ME, 04210.
Arrangements by Roberson Funeral Home & Crematory in Port Charlotte, Fla.
