WATERVILLE - Attorney John E. Nale's warm and thoughtful assistance for the legal needs of elderly people in Maine is held in high regard by others who care for them.
Donna W. Finley, a former state representative and social worker for 40 years in western and central Maine, said the work of Nale and his brother is synonymous with elder care. "Over my years of working with people, whenever I have a legal issue for the elderly, John and his brother are who I call and refer to," Finley said.
Members of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce are in agreement, recently awarding Nale this year's Outstanding Professional Award.
At Nale Law Offices, John and his brother, Mark, dedicate their practice to helping aging people and their families deal with legal and financial challenges that can so often become overwhelming, John Nale said.
"We started with elder law helping an aunt and uncle," he said. "We saw the need. It is heartbreaking at times. Helping the family through the process of aging and ill parents in a nursing home or with Alzheimers is scary for them."
He also is Volunteer President of the Maine Association of Area Agencies on Aging and serves as Co-Chair of the Legislative Affairs Committee, Elder Law Section of the Maine State Bar Association.
John Nales interest in law goes beyond elder care, however. As chairman of the Maine State Prison Industries Advisory Council, he helps work on improving inmate job training and job opportunities after release.
He has traveled with high profile attorney, F. Lee Bailey to speak about giving inmates a second chance. Although well-known for his elder care work, Nale has also been involved in many criminal cases, mostly murder and manslaughter.
A Maine native, John's parents moved to Waterville from Lebanon in 1912 and his mother, Caroline T. Nale, raised John, his sister, Carole, and four brothers, Mel, Mark, Tom and Richard, on Front Street in Waterville.
"She raised six of us on her own," said Nale, who recalls working hard himself as a shoeshine boy, gas station attendant, stock boy and Sentinel news carrier. "The papers would be dropped on Front Street, tied in a bundle and wrapped in wire gauge. My mother would get us all up to delivery.
"It was her hard work and dedication and self-sacrifice that allowed four of us to go on to college and law school."
He attended St. Josephs Maronite School, graduated from Waterville High School, the University of Maine in Orono and Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire.
In his spare time, Nale enjoys cooking his late mothers Lebanese recipes for his family.
"I try to copy her recipes and get them out to the rest of the family," Nale said. "I do one or two a month."
He and wife, Lucinda, live in Winslow. They have three grown children and two grandsons.