WINDHAM — John Kooistra had a bright, infectious smile. He was known for silly pranks at the Portland Fire Department, where he worked for 29 years, and he was the person who kept things light and fun at family events.
“John saw humor in every day,” said Chris Pare, a retired Portland fire lieutenant. “Folks in public safety often need someone to lift the mood after some of the situations we’re exposed to, and there wasn’t a day without laughter with John.”
On Saturday, Pare and other colleagues, friends and family of Kooistra remembered him during a memorial service at Windham High School. Kooistra, 56, died Monday after a battle with cancer.
A longtime Portland paramedic firefighter, Kooistra retired from the department in 2019 at the rank of lieutenant. Later that year, he took on the job of deputy fire chief in Windham, where he worked until his death.
Saturday’s memorial was packed with people who came to pay homage to Kooistra’s long career in public service and to remember the things they loved most about him.
“Through his decades of service to the Portland and Windham fire departments, John Kooistra dedicated his life and career to the safety and wellbeing of Maine people,” said Gov. Janet Mills, who was in attendance Saturday, in a written statement. “On behalf of the people of Maine, I extend my condolences to John’s family, the Windham Fire Department, and all who counted him as a friend.”
Pare told the crowd gathered in the high school’s performing arts center that Kooistra had been a mentor to him and remembered how the two used to rank the bizarre events of their work day based on circuses, classifying the road conditions or a hectic medication exchange at the hospital as either a “one ring” or “three ring” circus.
Kooistra brought levity to a job that is often heavy, Pare said. “If there was a practical joke with unidentified perpetrators, there’s a good chance we were behind it,” he said.
But Kooistra was also serious about work and cared deeply about paramedicine.
Bridget Rauscher, director of Portland Public Health, remembered meeting Kooistra 10 years ago while working in the city’s public health division. He was simply referred to as “John the paramedic,” a nickname that came with admiration from the public health staff.
Rauscher said Kooistra was pivotal in helping the city develop a protocol to distribute naloxone, an opioid-overdose antidote, through its syringe exchange program. “John was instrumental in what I truly believe was the single largest life-saving advancement for people who use drugs in Portland and beyond since the exchange opened in 1998,” she said.
Other colleagues remembered Kooistra’s dedication to community education and outreach.
As Windham’s deputy chief, he was always doing research on ways to improve the department and set high standards for staff. “When responding to calls in the field, he was a fantastic clinician and an exquisitely skilled communicator,” said Shane Taylor, a paramedic and firefighter in Windham. “I 100% believe the deputy could talk the moss off a ledge.”
Outside of work, Kooistra loved restoring classic Land Rovers, scuba diving, travel and ballroom dancing. His son, Ethan Law, said he was the person at family dinners who was always “last in line for food and the first in line to do the dishes.”
“He mattered a lot to our family,” Law said.
