Roland "Pete" Coté Sr. ... WWII Navy veteran; at 99

LEBANON, Maine - Roland "Pete" Arthur Coté, Sr. of Lebanon (formerly of Barrington, Ill.), died on Friday evening, November 19, 2021. He was born on June 10, 1922, in Somersworth, N.H., and was the 3rd child of Alphonse and Emma (Bergeron) Coté.

Roland served in the Navy during World War II as Seaman First Class. He was first stationed in Nova Scotia, Canada before serving close to a year in England as part of the Navy's logistics effort in preparation for the D-Day Invasion. He then finished his tour of duty at the Glenview Naval Air Station in Glenview, Ill., where he was the chauffeur for any Admirals on base. He was honorably discharged on December 17, 1945. He was a long-standing member of the V.F.W. and the American Legion. He served as Quartermaster at the Somersworth, NH VFW post for around 10 years.

In September 1945 after chauffeuring an admiral to a dinner party he was given permission to go out for a few hours and that is when he met the love of his life, Betty. The following month he asked her if she would go with him back home to Somersworth to meet his mother, she told him "No. Not unless you put a ring on my finger." So, he did, and they were married on Christmas Eve in Chicago. They lived in and around the Chicagoland area until 1959 when they purchased their home in Barrington, Ill., where they continued to raise their growing family and lived until his retirement in 1985.

Roland loved to read (he once read a whole set of encyclopedias), watch old black & white movies, and could shoot a mean game of pool. While working his full-time job, he also ran a saw sharpening business out of the basement of the family home. In the spring of 1986, he and Betty moved to his hometown of Somersworth, and later purchased their home in Lebanon. There he started a little woodshop in his garage making and selling wishing wells and small windmills for lawn decorations, along with chairs and other miscellaneous wood projects.

Roland was preceded in death by his sister Anita Ouellette, his brother André, his daughter Jeanne Marie Dalton and son Roland Arthur, Jr. He is survived by his wife of 75 years Betty (Wright); his children Richard, Lorrie Incavo (Dominic), Donald (Sandra), Robert (Debra), André, Denise (William Mepham), and John Paul; and at last count 18 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, and 3 great-great grandchildren.