Memorial Service Set for Jacqueline Couture

Information provided by Lyndsay Couture.

A memorial service is scheduled Dec. 7 for for Jacqueline Couture, a Huntington Station resident who died  Oct. 11.

Jacqueline Adelaide Couture (Schlam) passed away at home at the age of 87. 

Born on March 26, 1926, Jackie grew up in Flushing, raised by her parents Daniel and Martha Schlam. She graduated from Bayside High School and attended Wagner College on Staten Island, where she trained to become a licensed practical nurse. She worked as a nurse at Huntington Hospital and then was hired by Hilaire Farm Nursing Home, where she retired after 33 years of service. 

While attending Wagner College she met the love of her life and her future husband, William Howard Couture Sr. They were married in 1946 and raised their children in their Huntington Station home where she resided for 66 years. 

In 1974 her husband William succumbed to cancer at the age of 58. Jackie continued to support the family and is survived by her four children, Catherine Leonardi, Jacqueline O’Brien, William Couture Jr., and Daniel Couture and their families, including 11 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. 

Her children often describe their “Ma” as one-of-a-kind, and a woman who knew what she wanted. Jackie enjoyed traveling to South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Disney World (with her grandchildren). 

She was an avid reader with interests in archaeology and genealogy, and cared greatly about medical innovation, donating her body to science upon her death.

 She was probably one of the first grandmothers with an email account, and her Facebook manipulation skills have astonished her family for years. 

She recently wrote this about herself: “I've been (and probably will be again) Appreciative, Boastful, Cautious, Devoted, Eager, Fractious, Generous, Helpful, Impatient, Jealous, Kind, Lazy, Mean, Neat, Obscure, Permissive, Querulous, Rational, Sarcastic, Truthful, Unwilling, Vincible, Withdrawn, Xenophobic, Youthful, and Zany”. 

Jackie will always be remembered for her love of cats, the family Thanksgivings that were held at her home for many years, and the fact that she referred to her grandchildren by their birth order numbers. 

As for her “number 8 grand” (this writer), I will always smile when thinking of her decision to quit smoking on her 80th birthday. 

The Dec. 7 service is scheduled for noon in the church where she and William were married: Lutheran Church of the Messiah located at 42-15 165th Street, Flushing.

 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.