Ordained a priest in 1956, Léo Couture spent nearly 70 years in the service of the Catholic Church, and notably served as vicar and parish priest at Saint-Boniface Cathedral, then as parish priest at Saint-Norbert.
The important positions he held as parish priest were at Saint-Norbert from 1965 to 1972
explains his cousin André Couture.
Then he was at Saint-Boniface Cathedral from 1972 to 1986 for 14 years, and that’s probably where people got to know him best and I think they were very close to the people there.
he says.
In addition, he served for a long time as chaplain of the Scouts et Guides francophones du Manitoba movement.
André Couture defines him as someone very welcoming and then always ready to serve and offer his services
.
According to him, Leo was involved at various levels in the community in the 1960s
.
A good communicator, he developed his talent for the theater with Pauline Boutal, an actress at the Cercle Molière theater from 1926 to 1941.
In addition, he had a love for music, which sometimes led him to play the role of impresario within the Francophone community of Manitoba.
He is involved in a group that brought a lot of artists to Winnipeg, for example, I remember him when we brought Mireille Mathieu to Winnipeg, Gilbert Bécaud, so he was involved at that level
remembers André Couture.
Father Léo Couture was also temporarily responsible for censorship on CKSB radio, the former name of the Radio-Canada station.
Tireless, he confided in an interview with Radio-Canada in 2016 that retirement will be in heaven
.
Léo Couture’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday, May 20, at Saint-Boniface Cathedral at 10 a.m.
The funeral mass will be presided over by the Archbishop of Saint-Boniface, Msgr. Albert LeGatt.
According to André Couture, the religious will be buried behind the cathedral, in the section reserved for priests
.
