Lisa Marie Lepine passed from this world to the next surrounded by family and friends, music and love on July 5, 2016. Lisa was born in Cazenovia to Geraldine and Andre Lepine on September 28,1957. She graduated from Cazenovia High school at the top of her class in 1975 where she was voted most likely to succeed, participated in multiple sports, served as a class officer, was an award winning artist and took great joy in being the last chair violin in the orchestra. Lisa attended Johnson State College in Vermont and graduated in 1979 with a triple major bachelors degree in art/ art education/education. Vermont became Lisa’s second home. She worked for Upward Bound in Vermont and then in the early 1980s went on a vision quest west where she discovered her home in Portland, Oregon. In her yearly visits back east, Lisa would take great joy in spending time at the log cabin her father built.
Lisa leaves her soul mate, Tom Hale of Portland, Oregon, siblings Michele (David) Van Wormer, Denise (Patrick) Krohn, Maurice (Lesley Koerner Roberts) Lepine and Simone Lepine as well as her cherished nieces, Veronica Krohn and Andie Van Wormer, and her nephews Jake and Rolland Krohn. Lisa was very close to her extended Lepine family in Morrisville, Vermont and the Carls in Allegheny, N.Y. Lisa also leaves her extensive loving Portland family of musicians, creatives, artists and goddesses. She was predeceased by her parents, Andre OBJ and Geraldine Marie (Carls) Lepine.
Soon after Lisa arrived in Portland she became involved in the thriving music scene in the Pacific Northwest. She began to manage the band Ed and the Boats, and her passion for musicians, creatives and artists blossomed into Lisa Lepine the Pro-Motion Queen. She became renowned and revered to artists and music lovers in the Portland area and across the country.
According to Oregon Music News, Lisa was an “Oregon music fixture in various capacities for more than 30 years after moving to Portland from Vermont. She managed the folk duo of Tracy Grammer and Dave Carter, booked national tours for several artists and helped cultivate the roots music scene that coalesced around the Laurelthirst Pub in the ‘90s…..Her talent for putting people together made her one of the most important figures in Oregon music for decades.”
Rarely in the final moments do we have the opportunity to realize the culmination of our lives work. In the morning Lisa was serenaded by all present singing “Amazing Grace” as she transitioned on the next leg of her journey. In the evening an impromptu musical concert occurred in her honor to rival the countless shows she promoted in the past. It was evident that her passionate soul work will continue to reverberate throughout the artistic communities near and far.
Lisa Lepine’s legacy to the arts community will live on through The Jeremy Wilson Foundation. Lisa wanted to help musicians experiencing medical issues to have access to alternative healing therapies that she found so helpful in her own life. It is the wishes of the Lepine family and her Portland Tribe that in lieu of flowers, a contribution be made to her legacy.
Lisa always finished her correspondences with her Glenda the Good Witch philosophy of life …Dream.Do.Dazzle.
Messages can be left for the family at anewtradition.com. Contributions can be made in the memory of Lisa at The Jeremy Wilson Foundation for the Lisa Lepine Musicians Relief Fund thejwf.org/lisa-lepine-musicians-relief-fund/.