Dick Courtemanche

Dick Courtmanche was born in Lewiston as one of 10 siblings to his parents who arrived from Canada. The family had a small farm on College Road in Lewiston with his dad working as a hand sewer in the shoe industry, with his children expected to follow in his steps. He shares his family history to start, with his parents coming down from Canada to Rumford initially, moving to Lewiston in 1940 for better opportunities and it being a more comfortable town for a French speaking family. He moves onto the shoe industry after that, Dick shares a lot of details about the process of shoemaking, specifically how piecework operated and the pay they used to receive for it. It was a clean, well paying job if you were able to make enough shoes, especially with the cost-of-living being less during that time. There are a lot of stories he shares as well about the leather involved in shoemaking as well as the different events and sports leagues here in town during the 1960s through the 1980s. He also talks about the end of a lot of shoe factories, about the places being shut down and the layoffs involved. He went into insurance instead, where he started his own company Courtmanche & Associates located on Webster St here in Lewiston.