Rev. Emmanuel John Moulis

AUGUSTA – The Rev. Emmanuel John Moulis went to be with his Savior, Jesus Christ after suffering a heart attack at his home on Oct. 21, 2025. He had just celebrated his 100th birthday four days earlier.

John, the son of John Nicholas Moulis and Annie Florence (MacDonald) Moulis, was born in Boston, Mass. on Oct. 17, 1925. He grew up in Somerville, Mass., one of five children, where he attended Somerville schools and graduated from Somerville High School in 1943. In that graduating class of 1943, while the world was at war, John knew he had few options. He chose the U.S. Navy, enlisting at the age of 17 and was obligated to serve until the war’s end plus six months. After boot camp he attended Naval Postal School and graduated with a petty officer rating. He was assigned to the Fleet Post Office, processing mail for USN Armed Guard personnel serving on the merchant ships carrying war supplies. The day he was discharged, he re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves serving on the USS Randolph and the cruiser Little Rock. At that time, he was in his first post war job, working for NECCO in Cambridge, Mass. as a candy maker where he made Necco Wafers and Canada Mints. He always said it was the sweetest job he ever had! In 1949, he was hired by National Shawmut Bank in Kenmore Square as a teller trainee, then later worked as a credit investigator and loan officer.

It was during this time that he met Joyce Atkinson in the youth group at church. They were married at Union Square Baptist Church in Somerville, Mass. on Sept. 18, 1950. They made their home in Somerville, and later Billerica, Mass. Their union was blessed with three children.

Twelve years later, in 1962, John accepted a transfer to the bank’s affiliate in Augusta, Maine. He and the family made the life changing move from Massachusetts to Augusta, Maine. In 1967, John joined the First National Granite Bank, and as a vice president of the Bank of Maine, he managed the bank’s branch at the Augusta Plaza. Then, in 1980, he managed the opening of a new branch bank in Pittsfield.

In Pittsfield, he and Joyce were active in the local church and with its affirmation, John was granted a lay license to preach. As a licensed lay minister, John was a volunteer with Prison Fellowship, helping to organize Care Committees during Prison Fellowship’s expansion into Maine. He was a minister and friend to several men on death row for about 30 years. Immediately upon retirement from banking in 1986, John was called to serve as pastor at the West Bowdoin Baptist Church. While there, after further studies, he was ordained into the Christian ministry. John and Joyce served at West Bowdoin for seven and a half years. They were later called to serve at the Port Clyde Baptist Church where John was pastor for four years.

During John and Joyce’s retirement years, they lived briefly in many communities, including Westport Island, Ocala, Fla., and Glenpool, Okla., and then finally settling back in Augusta in 2001.

John was a member of Penney Memorial United Baptist Church where he was active in the Nursing Home Ministry and VIPs, a senior group. For many years he served on boards and committees of American Baptist Churches of Maine, and as its president in 1986.

John was predeceased by his parents; his three sisters, Marguerite Burns, Florence Binari, and Orenthia Knox; and his beloved wife of 67 years, Joyce.

John is survived by his three children, Kathryn Kilcoyne (Terrance), Robert Moulis (Angelina), and Elizabeth Gilliland (Terrance); his grandchildren, Jennifer Dorman, Sarah McLellan, Megan Hinrichs, Thomas Kilcoyne, Gianna Achord, Colby Henley, and John Gilliland; great-grandchildren, Cole and Kelsey Dorman, Skyler and Mason Dann, Laura and Chase Hinrichs, Ella and Jackson Henley, Charley, Reed, Klark and Wylie Gilliland. He is also survived by his only brother, Laurence E. Moulis; and special loved ones, Thoai and Le Tran, Crystal Chen and Teagan; and several nieces and nephews.

A celebration of John’s life will be held on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. at Penney Memorial United Baptist Church, 393 Water St., Augusta, ME 04330, followed by a reception in Perkins Hall. Burial will be at the Maine Veterans Cemetery at a private graveside service.

Arrangements and guidance are in the care of Knowlton & Hewins Funeral Home and Cremation Care, One Church St., Augusta.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the Knowlton & Hewins Funeral Home website, http://www.khrfuneralhomes.com

In lieu of flowers, donations in John’s memory may be made to

Penney Memorial United Baptist Church Memorials Fund

393 Water St.

Augusta, ME 04330; or

Augusta Food Bank

161 Mount Vernon Ave.

Augusta, ME 04330

Rev. Emmanuel John Moulis