Lionel Couture, 86

Lionel Couture, 86, of Groton, New York passed away surrounded by his loving family on March 9, 2020.

Lionel was born October 24, 1933 in St. Marc du Lac Long, Quebec, the son of Arthur Couture and Rose Boisvert Couture.

He moved to Tupper Lake from Quebec in 1961 to work for International Paper. While working in Tupper Lake he met his wife, Lise Fortier Couture and they married in 1962. He continued to work in the logging industry, soon buying his own equipment and working for Finch & Pruyn.

They had two children Bruno and Julie and remained in Tupper Lake until 1967. At that time he began to work for Gutchess Lumber as a contracted Logger and then moved his family to Cortland, N.Y. permanently in 1972 where they had another child, Denise.

He remained in the Central New York area and was a resident of the town of Groton.

In 1970 he founded Couture Logging Corp. in East Homer where he primarily logged in the early years then became a log buyer and seller for domestic and international markets, specializing in veneer logs.

Lionel enjoyed hunting, hockey, fishing, traveling, logging, visits to Quebec and Tupper Lake to see his family and spending time with his grandchildren.

He is survived by his wife, Lise, son Bruno Couture (Ann), daughter Julie Mach (Timothy), daughter Denise Brown (Ray) and his grandchildren Zachary and Connor Siracusa, Abigail Mach, Allyson Ward, Alec Brown, Katie and Jacob Couture as well as two brothers, Ovila (Therese) and Maurice (Suzette) Couture in Quebec and family in Tupper Lake, a sister in-law Suzie Bashant and three brothers in-law, Serge Fortier, Ghislain Fortier and Yvon Fortier (Kathy) as well as several nieces and nephews.

Lionel was predeceased by his parents, three brothers and a sister from Quebec and father and mother in-law in Tupper Lake. Lionel will be remembered for his logging and hunting stories, his selflessness, generosity and the endless love he had for his family. You could never walk very far at a logging show because he was always being stopped by the many people that enjoyed talking with him.

The family would like to thank all the staff at the Groton Nursing Facility for their exceptional loving care. Memorial contributions may be made to Dementia Society of America at DementiaSociety.Org in Lionel’s memory. Online condolences may be left at www.zirbelfuneralhome.com A celebration of life will be held on Saturday April 25, 2020 at the Cortlandville Fire Dept., 3pm. at 999 State Route 13 Cortland. Please come share your memories of Lionel with his family and friends.