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Ovide Cote had so many siblings, the family could have formed not just one, but two baseball teams.
Ovide was born on July 20, 1940, the 15th of 21 children.
He and his eight brothers did play on a team, and they were so good they were inducted into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.
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The Cote brothers became powerhouse players in Vassar in southeast Manitoba. They played on the community baseball team and, for a period of time, they all played on the same team together.
After his playing days ended, Ovide continued to organize and support youth baseball in the area through the 1970s and 1980s, including holding executive positions with both the Manitoba/Minnesota Little League and the North Border Babe Ruth league.
He also helped move Vassar Minor Baseball into the Carillon Minor Baseball League and, when the organization needed it, he became a certified Baseball Manitoba umpire.
The Cote brothers, along with their dad, were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007 and Ovide was singled out as being “a left-handed hitting catcher with a solid physique (and) a strong arm.”
Ovide was also community minded when he wasn’t around the baseball diamond; he was involved in many community organizations and he dedicated himself to keeping the Vassar Pool and Park in great working order.
Ovide was predeceased by his parents and siblings, but he is survived by his wife, three children and, naturally, nine grandchildren — enough to fill a baseball team.
Read more about Ovide.
How They Lived
Lilian Cords was working for Revenue Canada when she and her husband decided to buy Kehler Skis.
Lillian, who was 83 when she died on May 13, worked as office manager for the company until the couple divorced.
She then began working as MLA Paul Edwards’ office administrator before taking the same position with MP Marlene Cowling in Dauphin-Swan River.
Read more about Lilian.
David Gislason had plans to become an engineer, but when his father died when he was 21, he took over the family farm.
David, who died on April 21 at age 81, went on to sell off his dairy herd and focus more on seed production, pioneering the use of leaf cutter bees for pollination of alfalfa.
He was later elected Reeve of Bifrost and was inducted into both the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame and Order of Manitoba.
Read more about David.
Marcelle Frechette and her husband had six children in Winnipeg and then decided to go on an adventure.
Marcelle, who was 87 when she died on May 15, spent four years with her husband as co-owners of the Aikens Lake Lodge, a fly-in fishing lodge in northern Manitoba, making family memories while surrounded by nature.
After this, the couple bought the Lundar Motor Hotel, operating it until their retirement in that community.
Read more about Marcelle.
Julien Allard was 11 when he asked the girl next door to be his girlfriend.
She agreed, but later that day she changed her mind.
Luckily for Julien, who died on May 23 at 66, she changed her mind again six years later and they were married for 45 years.
Julien was a teacher and principal committed to French immersion. He taught at Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau before becoming principal at École Viscount Alexander and finally vice-principal at École secondaire Oak Park High School.
Before he got his Masters in education, he developed an appreciation for Franco-Manitoban author Gabrielle Roy while doing an arts degree in French literature. This appreciation grew to him becoming president of La Maison Gabrielle-Roy.
Read more about Julien.
File this under the interesting ways couples meet.
Marlene O’Brien, who was 92 when she died on May 23, was playing on a bowling team when she tallied a score of 600 for three games — a feat so special that a local newspaper reported on it.
Those scores caught the attention of another bowler who asked her to go for coffee… and three months later asked her to marry him.
Read more about Marlene.
A Life’s Story
Nancy Fleury was a community leader in Teulon.
Nancy, who died on Jan. 31, 2022, at the age of 75, founded the Teulon Christmas Cheer Board and the Teulon Food Bank. For many years, she operated both out of her own garage.
Nancy Fleury died last January at the age of 75. (Supplied)
“She lived her life full of love,” her granddaughter Brandy Fleury said.
“If it was cooking, the special ingredient was love. If it was doing something for the community, she did it because she loved to do it.”
Nancy’s efforts were even recognized nationally: she was honoured with the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award in 2013.
To read more about Nancy’s life, go here.
Until next time, I hope you continue to write your own life’s story.
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