Governor Janet Mills issued the following statement in honor of former Maine Governor Joseph E. Brennan, who passed away last night at the age of 89:
“Maine and the nation have lost a great public servant, and I have lost a friend. Through five decades of public service – as a state legislator, County Attorney, Attorney General, Member of Congress, Federal Maritime Commissioner, and as Maine’s 70th Governor — Joe Brennan never stopped working to improve the lives of Maine people. The proud son of Irish immigrants, Gov. Brennan’s career was guided by the core values of hard work, fairness, friendship, and a drive to help those who needed a helping hand, values which he learned growing up on working class Munjoy Hill in Portland.
“I saw Joe Brennan’s character and decency up close when I worked for him when he was Attorney General. In 1980, Governor Brennan took a chance on a young woman lawyer, appointing me as Maine’s first woman District Attorney, over the objections of a number of men at the time. That appointment, little did I know then, put me on the path years later to become the first woman to serve as Governor of Maine.
“More importantly, Gov. Brennan demonstrated for me and others that politics is about building relationships, that public service is not about enriching yourself but about enriching the lives of others, and that the most important relationship is the one we have with the people we serve.
“Governor Brennan’s philosophy was perhaps best summed up by the slogan featured on one of his campaign buttons: ‘every one counts’. On behalf of the people of Maine, I extend my deepest condolences to Joe’s wife Connie, his children, JB and Tara, and the entire Brennan family.”