CUMBERLAND FORESIDE – Carmine “Jack” Piscopo of Cumberland Foreside, passed away after a long illness on May 3, 2023.

Jack was born on Aug. 8, 1934 to Antoinette Cereste and Michael Piscopo. He graduated from Cheverus High School where he was class orator. He then graduated from Boston College where he studied Constitutional Law and History. In 1964 he received his master’s degree in Secondary Education from the University of Maine.

His teaching career included the Sacred Heart School for Girls in Van Buren, followed by six years of teaching at Portland High School and Lyman Moore Junior High School as well as teaching Immigrants Americanization and Preparation for Citizenship at Portland Evening School and in his later years volunteered to assist in this work.

As a social studies teacher, he became interested in the War on Poverty programs and ultimately served as Director of PROP for three years in 1968. His teaching career continued as he taught Experiments for Living, American Politics and U.S. History at Cape Elizabeth High School where he was a beloved teacher. Even in recent years, students would run into him and always expressed their fondness of him and the impact he had on them.

Jack left teaching after he and his wife, Joy Marukelli, purchased F.O. Bailey Company and the Woodman Block on Middle Street. There they set antique auction records and they ran a popular showroom. This was the same block where he once shined shoes as a boy, truly “the American Dream” as featured in the PPH.

He was known for his warm personality, sense of humor, love of great music, (especially Luciano Pavarotti) storytelling, travels to Italy and throughout coastal Maine, antiquing adventures with Joy, life with their two wonderful children and later their fabulous granddaughters, and especially great food, cooking and ALL things Italian. His friends declared his Marinara sauce superb!

Jack is survived by his wife, Joy, of 61 years; son, Jay and daughter, Jill Kalman and her husband Michael Kalman; his granddaughters Lily and Abigail; brother, Alfred Piscopo; and many nieces and nephews.

The family thanks Maine Medical Center, and their nursing and medical staff and Hospice of Maine at St. Joseph’s, and Father Andrus for their outstanding comfort, care and humanity.