Leo Caouette
Leo Caouette
Leo Caouette
Leo Caouette

Obituary of Leo Joseph Caouette

I have always regretted not knowing much about the early lives of my parents and grandparents. I would probably have learned a great deal had I listened over the years. I guess it didn't seem important at the time. In any case, I've decided to start writing a thumbnail sketch of my early life, as I remember it.

Leo Joseph Caouette

I was born on August 15th, 1935 at St Andrews hospital in Minneapolis, MN. I was the second surviving child of Leo Henry and Emogene Gertrude (Osterman) Caouette. I was preceded by my sister Marian and an infant girl that died at birth. Two brothers, Earl and Michael followed.

It was during the Great Depression although I was obviously unaware of it and my family managed fairly well as my father was employed throughout the Depression at The Minneapolis Gas Light Company (The Company name was changed over the years to The Minneapolis Gas Company, The Minnesota Gas Company, then to Minnegasco, which merged into CenterPoint Energy).

My earliest memories are of life in a rented home at 3152 40th Avenue South in Minneapolis. It was a small white framed house on the corner. I have vague memories of people and places in the neighborhood, the historic Armistice Day Storm and of starting kindergarten at Longfellow school. We moved during that kindergarten year (1940-41) when my parents bought a home at 912 - 41st Avenue North. This small, two story, two-bedroom home was on a small lot next to the alley and had no basement, one closet, no garage and no central heating system. The house was heated by a space heater on the first floor and the only heat in our upstairs bedrooms during the winter was provided through gravity up the hallway stairwell and through a round register in the upstairs floor. I could see my breath when I climbed out of bed on cold winter mornings. This was to remain the family home until after my father’s death in 1968. It's difficult to admit now but I remember feeling ashamed of our house because it was always cluttered inside and out and didn't measure up to the homes of my friends. Looking back, I realize there was simply not enough room to keep things put away and my mother did a good job under those difficult conditions to keep us and the house reasonably clean. Outside of my feelings about the house it was a good neighborhood to grow up in, we had wonderful neighbors, and I had good friends nearby and at school.

In the Fall of 1941, I started first grade at St Bridget's grade school located at 38th and Emerson Ave North. I began taking violin lessons from Sister Francis in the third grade and continued those lessons until after 8th grade graduation. Those lessons involved participation in the school orchestra which performed at various functions and events throughout the year. I remember enjoying it immensely but yet I gave it up shortly after leaving St. Bridget’s because I felt the violin was considered a sissy instrument. A decision that I've always regretted.

During those early years of my life, I was also heavily influenced by the events of World War II. I remember blackouts, block wardens, gas, cigarette and food rationing. Saving grease and tin foil. Seeing banners with stars hanging in windows indicating lost family members to the war. I remember hearing about places like Iwo Jima, Guam, Guadalcanal, Normandy and singing songs that made fun of the name Hirohito, Tojo, Hitler and Mussolini. Although I was too young to fully grasp the magnitude of the events that were taking place it instilled in me an interest in that world conflict that is still with me today. I've read and watched a great deal on the subject over the years.

I became an altar boy at St. Bridget’s church in the 5th grade and continued those duties as well until 8th grade graduation. At age 13 I served as altar boy at my sister Marian's wedding. I was also a catcher on the school baseball team that played against other catholic schools on the northside of the city. Most of my free time outside of school was spent at Folwell park on Dowling Avenue North between Humboldt and Knox. It was the place to hang out for me and my friends Gary Stimmler, Mike Lynch, Owen Kane, Wayne Brademan, Jack Knip and others. We played whatever sport was in season in either pickup games or loosely organized leagues formed by the park board staff. That included ice skating and hockey in the winter on ice formed by flooding the baseball fields when the weather was cold enough. Around the age of 11 or 12 I began caddying, along with most of the same friends, at the Golden Valley Country Club on Golden Valley Road. Caddies were allowed to play the course on Mondays for free thus my initial exposure and interest in what was to become a lifetime of enjoying the game of golf.

I have many fond memories of these early years when I formed many friendships that have lasted a lifetime. Like other parts of the city, North Minneapolis had scattered corner business areas that usually included a drug store, hardware, barber shop, butcher shop, grocery store and maybe a restaurant. There were larger commercial areas like Camden or along Lowry or Broadway that provided larger and a wider variety of businesses like clothing stores, movie theatres, car dealerships, bars, restaurants, banks, etc. If you wanted to shop at one of the major department stores like Dayton’s, Donaldsons, Pennys or Powers you had to go downtown. Sears Roebuck was the exception with a large store on Lake Street in South Minneapolis. The effect was that you lived in a smaller world. Each section of the city was like a small town of its own. Growing up we spent nearly all of our time in our neighborhood, shopping at neighborhood stores, playing in neighborhood parks and with neighborhood friends.

Thinking back on my life in the early years, particularly through the 1940's, I can't help but think how different things were then. It was before the postwar suburban boom that brought strip shopping centers, enclosed malls, fast food restaurants and three-bedroom ramblers. Automobiles came without turn signals and seat belts and automatic transmissions were just coming into existence. There were no televisions, microwave ovens, audio tape recorders, plastics or wash and wear clothing. Disneyland, Disney World didn't exist nor did the freeway system. The list of things we didn't have could go on and on right up to today’s personal computers and cell phones. It isn't difficult to understand that life in the 40's was considerably simpler but also very limited in options and opportunities. Things began to change slowly in the 1950's. In the late 1940's our family was one of the early owners of a television set. I think it was because my dad, who repaired radios at home as a sideline, had some connections with people in electronics. Whatever the reason, we were all spellbound by the electronic picture (even the test pattern that was used for manual picture adjustment) that was magically sent into our home. It was the beginning of the end of an era where the family sat around the radio listening to music, sporting events and programming of all kinds.

In 1949 I started 9th grade with several of my friends at DeLaSalle High School located on Nicollet Island near downtown Minneapolis. It was an all-boys school at the time and thus a continuation of the same developmental influences that I experienced in grade school. We traveled to school by streetcar and it required a transfer on Hennepin Avenue to eventually arrive on the "Rock" (The pet name for Nicollet Island). At age 15 I got my first part-time job. I became a busboy at the employee cafeteria at Dayton's Department Store on 8th and Nicollet. I worked there until my junior year when I became a part-time order filler for the Winston & Newell Company that supplied stock for the Super Value Stores. I didn't play any sports at DeLaSalle but continued my sports activities at Folwell park . In the summer of 1952 between my Junior and Senior years I played with the Camden Post American Legion baseball team. It was also the time when I gave up catching and began playing the infield. We qualified for the state tournament which was held at Lexington ballpark in St. Paul. (It was the home of the St Paul Saints of the Triple A American Association, so it was a big deal at the time) We ended up losing to the eventual state champion, but we had a quality team and every player (except me) attended Parick Henry High School on 44th and Knox Avenue North. That meant that everybody but me would be playing baseball for Patrick Henry the next spring. The idea of not having to work part-time to pay  for De LaSalle and having the opportunity to play high school sports (I also played for the school hockey team) convinced me to transfer schools for my senior year. That senior year at Patrick Henry was fun but at times difficult. I tended to be shy and self-conscious and attending a public, coeducational school after 3 years of all boys and the discipline of the Christian Brothers took some getting used to. Our hockey and baseball teams were successful. Tying for the City championship in hockey and winning our division in baseball but eventually losing the city championship in a two-game series against Washburn that was played in the old Nicollet ballpark, home of the then Minneapolis Millers.

After graduating from Patrick Henry in the spring of 1953 I had no plans other than to find a job. Many of my friends were planning on college in the fall but I didn't have the same motivation. As far as I know, at that time no one from either side of my family had ever even attended college let alone graduated so there was no importance placed on schooling beyond high school. I definitely could have used a push in that direction, but I really can't blame anybody else for my failure to continue my education. I also knew that within a few short years I would be drafted into the U.S. Army for a period of two years. Military service was mandatory at the time. I might point out here that in those years young people didn't leave home until they either entered the military service or got married. The only exceptions were the young people from small towns who moved into the city to find employment. Nobody I knew moved out and lived on their own. (This was probably one of the reasons people married much younger in those years).

Early that summer before I found a job I was contacted by Ron Olson, a friend of mine and a teammate on the American Legion and High School baseball teams. He had been playing baseball for the small town of New York Mills, MN on Hwy 10 in the northwestern part of the state. A player had been injured, and they needed a replacement and I jumped at the chance. It was my first opportunity to live away from home and it was an interesting and enjoyable experience. Ron, myself and our star pitcher from Legion and High School, Dick Helmeke, shared an apartment and were given jobs to earn spending money and meal tickets to be used in a local cafe. I shoveled coal with some of the local men in the town. We unloaded boxcars of coal into a truck and delivered it to local businesses and homes. Neither the job nor playing baseball lasted very long as after only a few short weeks I was offered a job at the Minneapolis Gas Company (where my dad worked and where I had applied earlier in the summer). Shortly after that Ron Olson was notified that he had been hired there also. Dick Helmeke stayed on in New York Mills and, to the best of my knowledge, still lives in the area today.

I returned to my parents’ home and on August 10th, 1953, five days before my 18th birthday, started working at the Minneapolis Gas Company's Linden building on the corner of Lyndale and Linden Ave. North. Little did I know at the time how many ways that would affect my future and that I would remain with the company until my retirement in 1995. Because of the on-going post war building boom and the growing economy utilities were in a major hiring mode. I have no idea how many people were hired by the Minneapolis Gas Company in 1953 but I do know that 20 years later 105 of us were still there and were inducted into the Company's Veterans Club, the most ever in a single year. The result was that there were many new, young employees like myself and I was to develop long term relationships with many of them.

My first job at the Gas Company was in the Service Department located in what was and still is known as the Linden building on the corner of Lyndale and Linden Avenues. I delivered mail to and from the various company buildings. I was a member of the Office Workers Union Local 12 and job changes came about through seniority. After a short period of time, I became a phone clerk (that was what phone representatives were called at the time) taking orders for service on gas appliances that needed repair. The Service Department was open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so the job involved shift work. Weekends, nights and holidays had to be rotated. The Linden building was a male dominated facility and had never had more than one or two female employees but that changed sometime in the mid-50's when the company moved their Meter Contract Department from its downtown office on 8th & Marquette to the Linden Building. The Meter Contract Department was made up entirely of female employees. Needless to say, with so many young single employees, both male and female, working in close proximity a lot of interdepartmental dating began.

Mary White was one of those Meter Contract employees who had started with the company after graduation from Roosevelt High School in 1954. I asked her out in the spring of 1956. We continued dating until the spring of 1957 when I had to decide what to do about my military service obligation. I called the draft board and was told I would be drafted around October of 1957. I told them to move my number up and as a result I was drafted and inducted in the U.S. Army in early April 1957.

Along with other local inductees I was taken by bus to Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith, Arkansas. After a few days we were loaded on a train with our shaved heads and military clothing issue in hand and transported to camp Carson near Colorado Springs, Colorado. I spent the next 8 weeks at Camp Carson in Basic Training, a very disciplined process that involves stripping you of your individuality and identity and rebuilding you and all of the others in the same mold both emotionally and physically. It was interesting to see the changes in people over that short 8-week period, especially physically. While we all lived under the same conditions and had the same diet and exercise routine, those who came to camp heavy lost weight and those who were thin gained weight. As for myself, I lost about 10 pounds and finished basic training weighing about 145 pound.

At the end of the 8 weeks everyone was given orders for an additional 8 weeks of training, but the type of training varied with each individual. I was ordered to Clerk Typist school back in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. While I was back home on a two-week leave between these assignments, Mary and I became engaged but had no immediate wedding plans. After completing the second eight weeks of training I was ordered along with four others to Fort Bliss, Texas supposedly for permanent assignment. There were only two positions available for the five of us and after only 5 weeks I was given orders to report to Fort Lewis, Washington for further assignment. Now realizing that I would now be spending the next eighteen months outside the United States, Mary and I decided to get married before I left. I was able to arrange for a month leave before I was to report to Fort Lewis and we were married at Holy Name church in South Minneapolis on October 26th, l957. After a very brief honeymoon in Northern Minnesota I left for Fort Lewis with hopes of having Mary join me once I was permanently assigned.

After waiting in Fort Lewis for more than a week, I finally received orders to report to Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska (Although it was an Air Force Base, U.S. Army units were stationed there). I also received the depressing news that military dependents were not allowed to accompany enlisted men under the rank of sergeant. It took three days to travel from Seattle, Washington to Port of Whittier, Alaska on a troop ship. They were three of the worst days of my life (sea sickness).

After arriving at Port of Whittier we were transported by train through some of the most rugged and beautiful terrain one could imagine to Fairbanks. I was assigned to A Company, First Battle Group, 9th Infantry Division as the Company Clerk. It was November 1957 and for the first two weeks that I was there the temperature never climbed above 20 below zero. It wouldn't get much better for the rest of the winter.

I was fortunate to be working under Master Sergeant Clarence Burdette who took me under his wing and made the next eighteen months a much more pleasant experience for me than for most. Infantry training in Alaska concentrated on cold weather training that included a lot of cross-country skiing and winter field maneuvers, often in bitterly cold weather. Although I was required to participate on occasion, my duties as Company Clerk spared me from much of this training as I spent most of my time in the Orderly Room.

It wasn't long before I discovered that some enlisted men under the rank of Sergeant had brought their wives up to Fairbanks but had to do so without the official approval or the financial assistance of the Army. They were able to sign out on pass each evening and weekend and live in Fairbanks, 26 miles to the south. Mary and I began making similar plans. Finally, in late March 1958, Mary came to Fairbanks and we rented a small, two room and bath apartment in a converted home at 1009 Cushman Ave.

Mary soon began working as an Airline Stewardess for Wein Alaskan Airlines and accompanied passengers and a wide variety of other cargo to destinations all over Alaska (There were no paved roads or railroad tracks north of Fairbanks at the time so everything was shipped by air). She was forced to leave that job after a few short months when she became pregnant.

She then found work at the Daily News Miner, the only daily paper in Fairbanks, which by the way was a town of approximately 10,000 people at the time. Mary was working there in June of 1958 when it was announced that Alaska would be granted Statehood. Officially, Alaska was to become a State on January 3rd, 1959, very close to the time our first child was to be born. We both considered the novelty of that child being able to say he or she was born in Alaska while it was still a U.S. Territory but that never came to pass. Therese Mary Caouette was born on January 15th, 1959 at the Ladd Air Force Base hospital located just outside of Fairbanks.

Life in Fairbanks was rather unusual. Not only was it very cold (The coldest temperature we experienced was -59 degrees on New Years Eve, 1959) but it was dark most of the time during the winter months. During the shortest day of the year on December 21st there was only about 2 to 3 hours of daylight. Summer was considerable shorter (the warmest temperature we experienced was 93 degrees) but it remained light most of the time. On the longest day of the year, June 21st, they started a baseball game in Fairbanks at midnight without the use of lights.

The cost of living was very high but with Mary working and having the ability to buy groceries and other necessities on the Base we managed quite well. In fact, living in a small apartment and without a car we were able to put some money aside.

We also made many friends through the military and through a club we joined at St. Joseph's church in Fairbanks (The same church where Therese was baptized ). As a result, we had a fairly active social life and I was even able to play softball in a rather unusual league made up of local churches. The schedule would read "Protestants vs. Methodists, Catholics vs. Baptists, etc ".

In March 1959 Mary returned with Therese to Minneapolis. They stayed with Mary's parents at 3908 - 17th Avenue South until my discharge in April of 1959. I returned to work at the Gas Company (Businesses were required by law to hold jobs for draftees) and we remained with Mary's parents for several weeks until we purchased a home at 3912- 57th Avenue North in Brooklyn Center. It was a small, three-bedroom rambler that we purchased for $13,500. To put that in perspective I was making approximately $2.10/hr. at the time.

We remained in that house until December of 1964 and during that time Paul Leo, Peter Joseph and John Peter were added to the family, all delivered at St. Mary's hospital in Minneapolis. Paul was born on July 12th, 1960, Peter on September 21st, 1961, and John on January 17th, 1964. Peter died very suddenly on March 5th of 1963. He had shown the first signs of not feeling well on Sunday morning, March 3rd by refusing to eat. By Monday morning he was feverish and listless, and Mary contacted the doctor. A medication was prescribed. By Tuesday his condition worsened and when Mary contacted the doctor again we were told to take him to the doctor’s office. After a brief examination the doctor sent us immediately to St Mary's Hospital where Peter died of spinal meningitis shortly after his admission. Peter was buried on March 8th, 1963, at the age of 17 months in the Children's section at Gethsemane Cemetery in New Hope.

In December of 1964 we moved from Brooklyn Center back to Minneapolis by purchasing a home at 4023 Vincent Avenue North for $15,700 (We sold the home in Brooklyn Center for $13,700). It was a home built in 1927 that had been neglected for some time with an unfinished basement and second level. We both liked city living, that particular neighborhood, and the fact that it was a half a block from St Austin's grade school and church.

After moving in we immediately began remodeling and hired someone to finish off the upstairs, adding two bedrooms and a bath. On July 28th, 1966, Julie Lucille was born and our family was complete.

During these years Mary, as was common with married women with children at that time, stayed home and filled the role of housewife and mother. I had attempted briefly to return to school by working nights and attending the University of Minnesota during the day but that failed miserably. Later I changed jobs at the Gas Company and began working as a clerk in the Distribution department performing dispatching, timekeeping and other miscellaneous duties.

While working there I began taking classes at night through the University of Minnesota Extension Division in hopes of improving my position at work. In 1967 I was promoted to the non-union position of Engineering Technician due in part to my job experience and continuing education.

Once out of the union the opportunities for job transfer or promotion were no longer based on seniority and as a result I changed positions fairly often over the remaining years of my employment. In 1970 I transferred to the Commercial Sales Department handling Commercial accounts in western suburbs. In 1973 I became Manager of Educational Services providing Gas Industry related information to area schools and civic organizations. In 1975 I moved into the Communications Department as a Community Liaison maintaining contact between the company and city administrators in the northern suburbs. Finally, in 1977 I was moved back to the Training Section of the Customer Service Department as a Television Production Technician and produced in-house television programming for employee training and information until my retirement in March of 1995.

During my employment I played slow pitch softball at Minneagasco in both house leagues and on commercial teams for many years. The company's commercial teams went to national tournaments 7 times. In the early 1060's I played on two of those teams and attended national tournaments in Providence, RI and Pittsburg, PA. I also played golf in the company golf league throughout my years of employment.

Occasionally, over the years I would get the bug to take violin lessons. I would get particularly excited about it whenever I heard fiddle music played. I had even gone so far as to contact local music stores like Groth or Schmitt but found no place that taught fiddle music. Sometime in 1975 Mary read somewhere that fiddle lessons were available through evening adult education classes offered at Marshall High School in Southeast Minneapolis. I signed up and it was the beginning of an interest and hobby that would significantly influence the rest of my life.

Those initial group lessons were not particularly productive but they whetted my appetite and I was hooked. I soon heard of the West Bank School of Music. It was an old rundown house near the West Bank Campus of the University of Minnesota used by a small group of local musicians to teach mainly traditional string music. The Westbank School of Music opened a whole new world for me. I not only began fiddle lessons but soon discovered a world of music that I didn't know existed. As I began to meet people with the same interests, I was able to find places where the music was played such as the Whole Coffee House on the Campus of the U of Minnesota and Dulono's Pizza on Lake Street in South Minneapolis.

I began listening to the music at every opportunity and in the fall of 1976 I heard that a group of local musicians led by Tom O'Neil had formed an organization called the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old Tyme Music Association or MBOTMA. MBOTMA put out a monthly newsletter and began holding monthly jam sessions. While attending these jam sessions I began to meet other aspiring musicians and eventually began practicing regularly with a group that included Steve Johnson, Russ Van Valkenburg, Gene Johnson, Roger Kinsy, Roger Cuthbertson and later Steve's brother Roger. We eventually formed a band and called ourselves "Upper Mississippi Bluegrass".

Our initial public appearance was at a talent contest held at St Margaret Church in Golden Valley. The contest was part of their Annual Fun Fair. We won the contest and received $100 and the opportunity to play one night at Jax Restaurant in Golden Valley. We packed the restaurant with friends and relatives and it was the beginning of a three year stretch where we played for a variety of events including bookings at Dulono's Pizza.

Upper Mississippi Bluegrass disbanded in 1979 and shortly after I met Al Bjorngjeld, a retired cabinet maker and musician. He played the accordion and guitar and would accompany me on the fiddle. A few months later I met his son Art who had returned to Minnesota after living in Arkansas. Art and I began playing together along with Roger Johnson and it wasn't long before we were joined by Mark Briere and Larry Cable and formed a band called the "Hardly Herd".

The Hardly Herd performed in the area for the better part of 10 years including several appearances at the MBOTMA Bluegrass Festival held during those years at Camp In The Woods in Zimmerman, MN. I saved considerable memorabilia from my involvement with these two bands and I hope to leave some of it with this story.

I retired from Minnegasco on March 1, 1995. At that time I was single and living in an apartment in Plymouth. I remained there until the summer of 1996 when I decided to buy a motorhome and go into full-time RVing. I kept a journal during my RV days that lasted until the spring of 2000 when I sold the motorhome and bought a small place in an RV Park in Donna, Texas. I plan to leave that journal with this writing.

** This is the end of dad’s autobiography. His 88 page RVing journal we’ve yet to read.

We like to append his story since the end of his writing. Leo enjoyed his time wintering in Donna, Tx where he regularly played golf and played “Big Band 40’s” music in a group at the RV Park lounge jams and other events. In time Leo met Millie Anderson who lived near Leo in the RV park. It was the start of a special relationship for him that lasted until his death.

In the summer Leo (and Millie) would travel North for extended summer visits with family, music friends, and golfing with long-time friends. Leo was blessed with a healthy, long life. It wasn’t until his early 80’s that his physical limitations made it difficult (and enjoyable given the youthful ease and perfection he once had) for him to continue to golf or the violin. In addition to the growing limitations, Leo and Millie found themselves in an older minority at the RV park resulting from the natural occupancy turnover to new, younger retirees. This youthful turnover was hastened by COVID, facilitating Leo and Millie to move year-round to a condo in Minnetonka, MN, close to Leo’s family.

By now Leo and Millie’s level of activity was diminishing and their level of discomfort increasing, often making daily living a challenge. However, they continued independent living as Leo could still drive and Millie cooked. They became an active part of our regular family meal gatherings and other family events, spending much time with their grandchildren telling stories and enjoying the youthful magic of their two great grandchildren.

It was only last Fall that they decided to move to The Glen Senior Living facility in Minnetonka in foresight of their growing health and living needs. They were familiar with The Glen as they often visited it on Monday’s to listen to the weekly “Big Band” jam session with Mike Lynch, an old North Minneapolis close school friend listed above in Leo’s autobiography that lives at The Glen.

They were very happy with The Glen, a beautiful, helpful, and very friendly community that minimized many of their health and living concerns. Leo especially liked the dining options as part of the full meal plan and attending the weekly “Big Band” music jams.

On Wednesday morning January 15th, Leo didn’t feel well with a headache and laid down to rest. Later, shortly before noon Millie was unable to awaken Leo and an ambulance was called to rush him to the Minneapois VA medical center where it was determined he was bleeding in the front temporal lobe of the brain. He was comforted and cared for throughout by family and the fabulous VA medical team until his death January 24th, 2025.

A Memorial Tree was planted for Leo
We are deeply sorry for your loss ~ the staff at Cremation Society of Minnesota
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