06/16/2026
Joseph W. Falk (1939–2026)
As the memories of a Watervillian are often best recounted through the pages of The Waterville Times, we present these clippings of the Falks, beginning in 1972 when the family moved into their new 1870s home on Putnam Street. The history came with the territory, and Joe and Kelly soon acquainted themselves with their home's original owner, W.J. Bissell, and the part he played in the Loomis saga of the 1860s.
Being a Scoutmaster, co-chairing the Bicentennial Ball with Kelly, playing guitar at St. Bernard's Church, and volunteering with the Historical Society are just a few of the many hats that Joe wore throughout the 1970s to 1990s. At the May 1994 Historical Society meeting conducted by President Mabel Bushee, Joe was "appointed to a committee to investigate the possibility of the society acquiring a museum in which the society's artifacts could be displayed." In the meantime, he succeeded Richard Woodman as President of the Historical Society in 1999.
The Falks were immortalized in their son Brian's 2002 film "The Loomis Gang", which is as much a documentary about small town living as it is about Waterville’s past. The construction of the new Village Hall that same year left a vacancy at 214 White Street, a historic gem of Waterville, built in 1842 as the first location of Grace Church, who sold it to the Welsh Society about ten years later when they built their new church on Main Street. After the Welsh Church closed, the building spent many years as the Village Hall, and for a dollar a year, Joe leased it as a permanent home for the Historical Society.
White Street gained a new neighbor when the state-of-the-art Public Library opened in 2006, leaving another vacancy around the block at 220 East Main Street. Another piece of Waterville history, the main part was built around the 1840s as part of Alvinza Andrews' Organ Factory, and afterwards part of the Hayhurst Seminary for Young Gentlemen and Ladies. The building was later a private residence until 1895, when Genevie Brainard purchased it, added a gymnasium in the back, and donated it to the Waterville YMCA. After that association disbanded in 1907, Mrs. Brainard regifted the building in 1908 to the Public Library, on the condition that it revert back to the family if they cease to use it. After over 97 years as a library, descendents of the Brainard family donated the building to the Village, after which Joe offered to purchase it, by this time the Historical Society had raised enough funds to do so. In accordance with the generosity extended thus far, an agreement with Mayor Jim Younes transferred the building to the Historical Society for free. Renovations followed, including the removal of the drop ceiling in the rear of what was once the library to reveal the 1890s gymnasium hidden above, now our main meeting hall, dedicated in memory of Edward and Hilda Barton. Our new home, complete with museum and archives, was inaugurated in December 2009 with our seventh annual Victorian Tea.
Joe's twenty-year tenure as President came to an end when he and Kelly retired in 2019. As the Historical Society celebrates our 60th anniversary this year, we remember the man who was our leader for a third of our existence.
