| Joe was an athlete, a teacher, and a coach. He was a favorite uncle, brother, son, and a valued friend. On the outside, this strong young man seemed fine. Unfortunately, he lived with a painful secret – an illness that many people didn’t fully understand. Though he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, at age 22, Joe showed signs of depression as early as high school.
In 1994, at the age of 26, Joe Laurencelle couldn’t cope any longer, and he took his own life.
After Joe’s tragic death, his family wanted to do something significant in his memory. In 1996, Michael and Mary Louise Laurencelle founded the Joseph J. Laurencelle Memorial Foundation to educate young people and their families about depression and other mental illnesses.
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