It takes a special person to have their retirement celebrated three times from the same place.
Each time it looked like Lou Fortin '58 might depart from ACPHS, another department snatched him up and extended his stay. Colleagues saw him as an invaluable intellect, resource, student advocate — and friend.
“We never wanted to let him go,” said Packy McGraw, ACPHS’ former vice president of administrative operations.
Former colleagues referred to Fortin, who died Dec. 14, as an “old-school pharmacist.” They recalled a gentleman who believed pharmacy was a noble profession, a raconteur who could converse (sometimes passionately) on many topics, who loved the outdoors and climbed all 46 Adirondack High Peaks, made daily lunches memorable and invited colleagues to his Friends Lake camp, and took pride in guiding students.
Fortin's picture in the 1958 Alembic Pharmakon yearbook
A lifelong Capital Region resident, Fortin’s ties to ACPHS were deep and personal. He met his wife, Marilyn Cepiel Fortin ’61, at the College. His brother Ronald Fortin ’68 is also an alum, as are his son, Timothy Fortin ‘85, and daughter-in-law, Diane Guglielmo ‘86.
Lou and Marilyn Fortin married after her graduation and raised three young children (there are now five grandchildren too) while working at several community pharmacies. In the mid-1970s, the couple purchased Post Road Pharmacy in East Greenbush and ran it for 18 years. While pharmacy owners, they served as preceptors, mentoring pharmacy students during clinical rotations. When they closed their pharmacy in the early 1990s, it was a natural transition for Lou to return to the College in its experiential education department, then called the Professional Experience Program (PEP), Marilyn Fortin said.
“He was always a teacher: If something was broke, he would not only fix it, he would show you how to fix it yourself,” Marilyn said. “He liked learning. He liked being around young people.”
Marilyn and Lou Fortin in 2006 (Credit: Elliott Photography)
When Fortin ran PEP, many pharmacy students still earned bachelor’s degrees rather than doctorates, explained Professor Laurie Briceland, who would later work with him in that department. It was an era before emails and Zoom calls, when pharmacies were often independently owned, and the majority of Albany College of Pharmacy students hailed from New York State. Fortin spent a lot of time on the road, visiting pharmacies where students gained their practical experience, noting his observations with pen and paper.
Fortin made those visits with the unique perspective of having been "a student, an alum, a practitioner, teacher, evaluator and colleague,” said former Provost John Denio. “He would know the area, he would know the pharmacist, and he would know the students; there was an instant comfort in meeting him.”
“I would look forward to his visit,” Throop Pharmacy Museum Curator Lee Anna Obos ’91 said, recalling her time as a student at PEP sites. “He would listen intently and offer suggestions on how I could get more out of my rotations.”
Later, as a colleague, Obos admired the way Fortin worked with students who were not progressing smoothly, seeking resolutions that supported their futures. McGraw, who interacted with him through the Student Conduct Committee, concurred, saying Fortin always sought to help students learn from poor judgement.
While working in PEP, Fortin also assisted the Pharmacy Practice Department occasionally as a mock patient. This led to his recruitment to work part time in the pharmacy skills lab after he “retired” from PEP (including a celebration with cake).
Lab Instructor Andrew Flynn shared an office with him. Other faculty frequently stopped by to engage in sometimes heated (but always civil) debate with Fortin, Flynn said. Regarding their own rapport, Fortin would cringe at Flynn’s puns, affably telling him, “You’re incorrigible.” Fortin also demonstrated a slightly mischievous side.
“I always knew he had some good gossip to tell me because he would shut the door,” Flynn said, “and then he would start to rub his hands together with a smile on his face.”
At a 2003 golf outing with the late Mario Zeolla '97
When Fortin’s skills-lab gig came to an end, there was another cake — and another appeal for him to continue sharing his experience with the College, this time through alumni outreach, Dr. Briceland said. By then, he had developed personal relationships with many alumni through his various roles.
In total, he spent 17 years at ACPHS, working into his 70s.
Recalling Fortin, Experiential Education Director Dr. Jennifer Cerulli ’93, ’95 remembered her own return to the College and her office, the successor to PEP. On introducing herself at an event, an alum responded, “So you’re the new Lou!” Cerulli replied, “I hope so.”
“If only I can live up to those standards,” she said.