April 2020 was a devastating month for residents, family members and employees at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough.
One by one, 14 residents of the long-term care and skilled rehabilitation facility on Route 1 died in one of the earliest and largest COVID-19 outbreaks in Maine. One was a veteran’s spouse.
The veterans who died had served as sailors, medics and mechanics overseas and on the home front. They included a farmer, a physician and a congressional aid, as well as fathers and grandfathers.
And they died without family members at their bedsides for their final moments, and without color guards or taps played at memorial services postponed to some future date.
These are the veterans confirmed to have died with COVID-19 at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough:
• John Flynn, 70, of Portland, Army, died April 30

• Joseph Zagrosky, 68, of South Berwick, Air Force, April 15

• Francis “Mike” Hugo, 83, of Brunswick, Marine Corps, April 16

• John “Jack” Towne, 91, of South Portland, Army, died April 17

• Norman Jordan Jr., 85, of Cape Elizabeth, Army, died April 19

• Brian McAvoy, 77, of Windham, Coast Guard, died April 19

• James Paras, 92, of Scarborough, Navy, died April 20

• Robert Fleury, 94, of Portland, Navy, died April 21

• Lloyd Littlefield, 78, of Kennebunk, Marine Corps, died April 21

• Paul Robie, 78, of Sanford, Army, died April 23
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