Joe Cournoyer was everywhere in Temple. You could find him behind the counter at Willard’s Store, which he ran with his wife, Peggy, for the last 48 years, and also behind just about every holiday event and ball game. If you called the old Temple information line, Joe would be on the other end. He might have granted you a fire permit on behalf of the Fire Department, or waved to you as Santa around the holidays.
“Joe knew every single baby born, every single graduate’s name, every wedding and funeral,” former softball teammate Rob Hannings said. “[He and Peggy] knew everything about the town of Temple… you can’t be more involved in a community,” he said.
Cournoyer, 76, died on Saturday, Feb. 13 after a period of failing health. Peggy and Daniel, one of the couple’s three sons, listed some of his contributions to Temple while going through some of his things.
Public service ran through Cournoyer’s entire life, Peggy said. He was class treasurer in high school, when the two met while working on “the cold side” of Silver Ranch in Jaffrey, and enlisted in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment during the Vietnam War. He was stationed in Germany, and one of the couple’s sons was born in the year they lived together overseas, she said.
Cournoyer later served as treasurer of Temple’s Fire Department, as well as of the town’s veteran’s association, named for Day, Quinn, and Blood, the three Temple men who died in WWII. Cournoyer logged 45 years with the Souhegan Lions Club, through which he received the Granite State Fellow Award in 2016, she said, and acted with the Temple Drama Club.
“We adopted a highway,” Peggy said, and the two of them would pick up trash as they walked along. “We did a lot of walking.”
Cournoyer remained a member emeritus of the Recreation Commission and Fire Department after years of service, his son said. The town honored Cournoyer by naming him “volunteer of the year” and throwing a big party in 2010, “but Joe never retired,” he said.
“The playground up by the tennis court is named after him, there’s a reason for that,” Recreation Commission member Vivian Wills said. “You get really excited when you’re on a committee. You have all kinds of ideas,” about new programs to add, she said. Cournoyer’s advice and “timeless” wisdom redirected that energy to its most effective ends, she said. “He’s been a real shining light for the town for many years.”
Hannings was working a summer job at a local farm when he showed up for one of the all-ages pick-up softball games Cournoyer organized. After Hannings moved back to his home state of New Jersey, Cournoyer sent him a letter saying he could find him a job if he ever wanted to come back. “He wanted to keep a home run hitter on the Temple softball team,” Hannings joked, but it worked, and Hannings returned to Temple in 1974.
“Joe ran the show,” Hannings said of the Temple Tigers men’s softball team. Cournoyer picked his team, spent hours working on the field, scheduling games and finding umpires, and keeping the team’s equipment at the store. “Joe truly was the Temple Tiger,” he said. Cournoyer coached little league teams and high school basketball in addition to playing on some of his own men’s league teams. “We played on the same basketball team,” Hannings said. Cournoyer had a great jumpshot, and more than enough heart and attitude, he said. As a coach, Cournoyer was attentive and organized, Hannings said, and probably could have eked more out of his team if he’d been sterner with them – but even so, the Temple Tigers were locally successful and even made it to a national tournament at one point, Hannings said. “It made you proud to play on a town team.”
“Joe and I talked sports constantly,” Temple resident Gail Cromwell said. Cournoyer could talk for hours about why the three-point shot changed basketball, how to speed up the pace of a baseball game, or why there are so many home runs, Cromwell said. “All of us enjoyed every aspect of that with him. The only trouble was that he was a Yankees fan!”
Cournoyer loved reading, Peggy said. He once sold a newspaper to his favorite writer, “Boys of Summer” author Roger Kahn, who was staying at a bed and breakfast in town, she said. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2016 with a big potluck party and live music featuring their son Dan at the Temple Town Hall, where their reception had been held fifty years ago to the day, she said. It was one of many festive occasions in Cournoyer’s life, she said, recalling a popcorn-themed surprise birthday party for him to commemorate one of his two favorite foods, lots of country music concerts, and packed breakfast club gatherings at the Birchwood Inn twice a week, a tradition that went on for years.
“Joe and Peggy were the ultimate goodwill ambassadors,” Cromwell said, describing them as exceptionally warm and welcoming. “If you were a new resident went to the store, they would tell you everything you needed to know… if you were just a person riding your bicycle and stopping in for a Coke, you would get the same treatment,” she said.
A memorial service is scheduled for July 3, Peggy said, a fitting commemoration for someone who said he “wanted to go out with a bang.” In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Joe’s name to Kitty Rescue and Adoption in Jaffrey, or the Temple Bicentennial Scholarship Fund, two causes representing two towns Cournoyer lived in, and his love for his own kitties, she said.