Victoria and Gerry Breault, owners of Hattie’s Deli, which fed and comforted NECOM students at the school’s inception in Biddeford
Remembering the Life of Victoria Breault, Hattie's and the NECOM Class of '82
By Mark Gulow, DO '82
Time is marching on as the first NECOM class of 1982 enters the twilight of our osteopathic clinical life.
After visiting the campus this summer and seeing the campus of UNE and NECOM thriving with medical students and state of the art buildings and facilities that make it so special, I could only reflect on what it was like in 1978 to arrive on campus as the first class with a massive $10,000 tuition and fledgling hope that Drs. Strong and Rodos, and all the committed osteopathic physicians, could bring this dream together and get us clinical rotations somewhere and make NECOM a success. The only medical building at the time was Stella Maris and a small video arcade across the street where we spent countless hours playing PAC-Man and Space Invaders. Professors and students alike hung out together and became close as we tried to get housing somewhere in Biddeford- Hills Beach or Biddeford Pool- or god forbid, Saco.