Alan B. Coutu

Alan B. Coutu, 79, of Londonderry, NH died on December 22, 2021. Born March 18, 1942, in Manchester, NH., he was the son of the late Paul E. & Eva M. Coutu.

Family members include his wife and best friend Yolanda, daughter Tiffany Gray; niece Michelle Coutu; cousins Deidra Caine & Alison Wright; stepsons Derek, Deryl & Denis Deveau and their families; three grandsons, five granddaughters, one great-granddaughter and numerous second and third cousins from MA, NH & CA.

He was predeceased by his brothers Bruce I. Coutu & Paul D. Coutu. Of course, Al loved his dog Coco and now they will be together.

Al was recently employed at ECCO USA for a second time. He was proud of the roles he held at each of his employers and had many long-lasting friendships. Upon retirement, Al was employed in the produce departments at local supermarkets. Prior to his retirement, he was employed by Charles River Labs (Wilmington, MA) in the maintenance dept., he was the facility coordinator at ECCO USA. In addition, Al was a salesman with NESSCO for many years serving the roofing/siding trades and working with architects on new construction projects. He also worked at Granite State Packing as a production worker and an assistant supervisor and quality control supervisor at Jac Pac Foods in Watertown, MA. In times of a slow economy, he worked for Leddy Group and was awarded employee of the month.

Al attended local schools including Hesser Business College, NH Technical Institute, University of NH (nights), Franklin Pierce College, NH College & Southern NH University.
He was a life member of DeMolay, holding the offices of: Preceptor, Marshal & Jr. Deacon and was a member of the White Mountain Priory. In his teenage years, Al was a member of the Manchester Artists Association.

He was the past VP and Secretary of the Jaycees, being awarded Speak-up, S.P.O.K.E & Key Man trophies. He was the past Secretary and member of the Southern NH Bass Club/American Bass Association.

Al enjoyed fishing, “tinkering”, painting (when the urge struck), photography, making birdhouses and was quite handy when something had to be done. Oh yes, he was a collector of “everything” as it might be needed someday was his philosophy. He also liked entertaining the neighbors with fireworks on Saturday evening every now and then. He loved a good joke and always tried to make people smile. A play on words was a favorite style of joke.

Before marrying Yolanda (YOLI), Al took a Windjammer cruise to the Caribbean islands of Martinique, Palm Island, Bequia, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Mustique. Once he took the “plunge” in Hawaii (Maui) and was married at Kapalua Bay. Al & Yoli took a nice vacation every year. They enjoyed trips to: London, Paris, Aruba, Bahamas, St. John, St. Thomas, Grand Canyon, Sedona, Key West, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Ft. Lauderdale, Rome, Siena, Florence & Venice, Italy, Jamaica & Barbados.

Al owned Maneham Note Cards depicting his photographs of NH scenes, exotic flowers & vacation pictures. A self-taught artist, he painted over 350 works of art over the years, donating a 4’ x 8’ seascape to the Ch. 11 auction in the 80’s.

A memorial gathering for Al will be held on Wednesday, December 29 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Phaneuf Funeral Homes, 243 Hanover St. Manchester, NH. He will be laid to rest at a later date.

Memorial donations may be made to your local SPCA or animal shelter.