Thomas E. "Coupie" Coupe

Thomas E. Coupe died peacefully on Saturday, March 24, 2018, at Wingate at Belvidere, where he lived with his wife, Joan after a very long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

Coupie was born in Lowell on December 3, 1923, a son of the late James and Ann (Emerson) Coupe.
He was raised in the Scared Heart Parish section of Lowell, MA, where, at a very young age he befriended the Ahern Family, who became like a second family to him. They taught him the skill of blacksmithing and the age of 16 he became a blacksmith/farrier, shoeing horses throughout New England from Massachusetts to Connecticut. This career continued until he was drafted in to the Navy during WWII.
After the war he married his wife Joan (Murningham) Coupe. On April 15, 1947, they would have celebrated 70 years of marriage.

His skills as a blacksmith brought him to be a knife forger for the Love Joy Company and finally retiring from the Maintenance and Roofing department of the Tewksbury State Hospital in 1986 at the age of 62.

Coupie had many passions and he lived life to fullest always surrounded by friends, especially his dear friends the Maher family. He was quite the character and was known for his one liners where his brutal honesty was just simply hilarious. Every Saturday his kitchen was full of his friends who would just stop by to listen to his stories, enjoy a great laugh or to see the newest pit bull terrier he acquired or to just eat Joan's hamburgers. It was always a packed house.

He was an extremely talented artist. Drawing mostly with pencils, he depicted animals and men in the boxing game with the most accurate detail. You can call yourself friend if you happen to have one of these amazing images hanging from your wall.

He loved to go to Benson's Animal Farm with his grandchildren. He would stand in front of the gorilla exhibit for hours and hours and study him, so his drawings would be precise. Our family thinks Coupie and the gorilla may have been kindred spirits as they spent so much time together.

Boxing was his sport. It's where many of his greatest friendships were forged, Beau Jaynes, Mike and Billy Ryan and many many more. He, and his brother Teddy, lived in a boxing ring. When the day was over, and the gym was closed the two of them would be on the phone talking boxing, laughing about the days events and discussing the next big fight. He trained his own son, Steve, from childhood to the Silver Mittens to Professional Boxing.

He was always "neat as a pin" with the shiniest boots you had ever seen. He shined his boots every day, a few times a day. When his Alzheimer's was starting to progress, he would still shine his boots. He even managed to shine the carpet away in the living room.

Surviving Coupie besides his wife are his three children, Paula LeBrecque and her husband Robert of New York, Karen Cregg and her husband John of Pelham New Hampshire, Stephen Coupe and his wife Lisa of Hudson NH; two grandchildren, Leslie Cregg-Hyder and her husband Scott of Pelham NH, Brian Cregg and his wife Maureen of Londonderry NH; four great grandchildren, Kalin and Thomas Cregg, Cregg and Marissa Hyder; a sister Rowena Scannell of Pennsylvania, and his sister-in-law Maureen (Coupe) Morrison. He was the brother of the late Edmund (Teddy) Coupe and Mary (Bernard) O'Brien.
Relatives and friends are invited to Coupie's Life Celebration at the McKENNA-OUELLETTE FUNERAL HOME, 327 Hildreth Street, from 10:30 AM until 12:00 PM on Wednesday. His funeral service will follow in the funeral home at 12:00 PM. Burial in St. Mary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Residence Activity Account at the Wingate at Belvidere, 500 Wentworth Ave, Lowell MA 01852. In honor of Coupie, we ask that you come to say farewell in your best shined shoes.