Roland Couture,

Rev. Roland Philippe Couture, OMI, 86, died on September 29, 2012, at Saints Medical Center, Lowell, MA. He was born on July 26, 1926, in Berlin, NH, to Philippe and Odile (Dion) Couture.
Fr. Couture entered the Oblate Novitiate in Colebrook, NH, in August, 1947. He professed his first vows on August 2, 1948, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 24, 1953, by Mgr. Louis Collignon, OMI, at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Lowell, MA.
Fr. Couture was assigned to the minor seminary in Bucksport, ME, in 1954. From 1956 to 1959, he served in the missions in Haiti. He was a teacher in the minor seminary in Bar Harbor, ME, from 1961 to 1968. In 1968 he was assigned to the position of professor at the minor seminary now in Natick, MA. From 1971 until 1992, he served three parishes: St. Peter's in Plattsburgh, NY; Ste. Jeanne d'Arc, in Lowell, MA; and St. Mary's in Lincoln, ME. He had the heart of a pastor and was very devoted to his pastoral ministries. From 1992 to 1994, Fr. Couture was on the staff of St. Joseph the Worker Shrine in Lowell, MA. He then worked for a year at the Immaculata Retreat House in Willimantic, CT. From 1995 until his death, he was in residence at the André Garin Residence in Lowell, where he served as the Associate Director.
Fr. Couture was very athletic and was noted as a very good cyclist and downhill skier.
Fr. Couture is survived by his brother, Rev. Roger A. Couture, OMI, of Willimantic, CT; by his sister, Jeannine Bergeron, of Berlin, NH; by a niece, Denise Jensen, and her husband, Don; a nephew, Paul Bergeron, and his wife, Erika; and a nephew, André Bergeron, and his wife, Deborah, all of Berlin, NH; a nephew, Roger Bergeron, of Vallejo, CA; and several great-nieces and great-nephews.