Donald Coute Sr.

Donald Norbert Coute, Sr., 96, a recent resident of Aurora, passed away on August 9, 2024 at the Genoa Long Term Care Home.
Donald was the eldest son of Jesse D. Coute and Arlene G. Callory, and was born on June 6, 1928 in Fall River, Massachusetts.  The Coutes were of the Azores (Portugal) and Don was proud of his Azorean roots.   Don attended 2 years of high school in Walpole at the Norfolk County AG School and at 16, left school and got his first job at the State Mental Institute as a dairyman where he processed milk and liked to tell how he could lift 2 large milk cans at a time to load and unload the trucks and fill the vats.
Don was married in 1949 to Gloriann Manescau, and in 1950 moved to Torrance, California to work at the GM South Gate Assembly plant building GM cars in Los Angeles, and working there for nearly 15 years.
In 1969 Don was divorced and found himself a single parent of six teenagers. Don and the kids soon moved back to Massachusetts and eventually New Hampshire where he worked at various radiator repair shops.  By the mid-1970’s he was working for Davidson Rubber in Dover, NH making interior parts for GM vehicles.
In 1979 Don and daughter Elizabeth moved to North Carolina where he worked at Hatteras Yachts in New Bern. In the mid-1980’s they moved back to California and resided in the San Bernadino area. While at church there, he met the love of his life, Constance (Sutton) Traylor.  They married in 1992 and made their home in Running Springs, CA for several years.
Don has always been very active, from church softball teams to even winning a local  seniors 5K run at age 65 in the early 1990’s.  Don loved to play basketball, often with much younger men who he liked to mention were amazed by his agility for an “old” guy.
In 2004 Don and Connie visited a nephew, Ed Donnell in Aurora, and soon after returning to California they sold their home and moved to Aurora where they lived until this spring.
Don had a natural green thumb and loved his garden and spent many hours tending it.   Donald and Connie both attended a professional clown school and enjoyed “clowning”  at various places around the area and for events.  Don also enjoyed an Alaskan Cruise he and Connie went on a few years ago.
Don accepted the Lord as his savior in the 1970’s while attending a Baptist Church in South Berwick, Maine.  Don always loved to talk to anyone about Christ.  He was very friendly and kind, upbeat and quick with a laugh.  He enjoyed talking to people and no one was a stranger long with Don.  Since moving to Aurora, Don and Connie have been members of the Pleasant View Bible Church in Aurora.
In recent years he could be seen peddling his 3-wheel bicycle around town and would often stop by his nephews for breakfast and coffee and talk of all the people he had met recently.  
Don was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Robert L. Coute, and sister Nancy A. (Donnell) Boisvert, two children William Coute and Patricia Coute.
Those left to cherish his memory are his wife Connie, his sons Donald (Debbie) Coute,  Jr. of Idaho,  Robert Coute and Tom Coute of California, daughter Elizabeth of Grand Island, daughter-in-law, Anastasia Siori of Athens, Greece,  nephew Edward (Mary) Donnell and their children Jesse of Aurora, Benjamin of Henderson, Emily of Nebraska City and Hannah of Ashland, all who enjoyed their uncle Donald very much;  grandsons Brandon Martin of Texas and Justin Martin of Inavale, who have very fond memories of the Grampa Don while in California and Nebraska;  Connie’s adult children Jennifer (Steve) Pongracz of Vancouver, Washington and Micheal Mitchell of Genoa and several other nephews, nieces and grandchildren in California, New Hampshire and Greece and family friend, Forest Lamb of Gretna, Louisiana.
Services will be held at Pleasant View Bible Church in Aurora, Saturday, August 24 at 2 p.m.