Alan Boone, MD's relationship to the Pine Tree State runs deep. It's where he grew up, built a successful medical practice, and nurtured a family with his wife Gayle. And, it's where the Boone Family will leave a lasting legacy. Their choice to make a planned gift to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center will make a difference in the lives of Mainers for generations to come.
Dr. Boone was born in Presque Isle to a family of doctors. After finishing high school, he followed in his father's footsteps and attended medical school at McGill University in Montreal. A medical residency and two years of service in Vietnam followed. Then, he returned to his home state to build a career at Eastern Maine Medical Center.
"Nobody knew what an oncologist was in 1970 in Bangor, and cancer cases kept coming my way," he says. "I become more and more involved in oncology and became board certified."
As his career progressed, Dr. Boone served as chief of medicine and director of medical education. He became a board member of the Northern Light Health Foundation after hanging up his stethoscope at the end of a distinguished career.
In retirement, Dr. Boone has continued to explore one of his lifelong loves-the Maine outdoors. He enjoys spending time at his family's camp in the shadows of Katahdin, and he's even climbed Maine's highest mountain several times.
"I was really into canoeing for quite a few years," he says. "I never did quite into get into fishing because I never caught anything."
Dr. Boone still enjoys soaring above Maine's fields and forests in his 60-year-old Cessna 172 single engine plane which he has owned for 45 years.
Sadly, Dr. Boone lost his wife Gayle to cancer and other illnesses in January of 2020. The couple's planned gift will pay tribute to Gayle and improve care for Mainers affected by cancer. With decades of experience helping cancer patients, Dr. Boone knows how much their gift will have an impact.
"Philanthropy has been so key to the development of the medical community and what's available," he says. "My wife and I decided that a certain portion of what we'd saved would go to the Foundation. We've enjoyed the comfort in knowing that that we were doing something."
At Northern Light Health, we're building a better approach to healthcare because we believe people deserve access to care that works for them. As an integrated health delivery system serving Maine, we're raising the bar with no-nonsense solutions that are leading the way to a healthier future for our state. Our more than 12,000 team members are committed to making healthcare work for you: our patients, communities, and employees.
