Fr. Vernon P. Decoteau

"Belchertown, Father Vernon P. Decoteau, 68, died June 1, 2016, after recently undergoing heart bypass surgery. Born on Dec. 26, 1947 in Pittsfield, he was the son of the late Alcide and Ida (Grenier) Decoteau. He graduated from the former St. Joseph High School in North Adams in 1966 and attended St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Conn., from 1966-1969. He studied philosophy and theology at the Seminary of Our Lady of the Angels in Albany, N.Y., and completed studies in theology at St. John's Seminary in Boston. Father Decoteau was ordained to the priesthood by Springfield Bishop Christopher J. Weldon on May 24, 1975 at the former Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs Parish in Adams. He served as an assistant priest at St. Mary Parish, Westfield from 1975-1979 and also was chaplain for the Newman Community at Westfield State College from 1976-1979. He was a faculty member at Cathedral High School from 1979-1982 and then attended Notre Dame University in Indiana from 1982-1983, earning a master's degree in liturgy. He was assigned to the Office of Pastoral Ministry and Worship and as director of the Priests' Choir from 1983-1992, and served as diocesan director of ceremonies from 1983-1992. Father Decoteau served as pastor of the former Blessed Sacrament Parish in Northampton from 1992-1996. He was appointed pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Belchertown on Jan. 2, 1996. His diocesan appointments also included two terms on the Presbyteral Council, 1997-1999 and 2003-2005; Episcopal vicar of the Hampden East Vicariate, 1999-2004; and Apostleship of the Sea in 2007, 2008 and 2009. He was elected to the Presbyteral Council, serving a three-year term from 2000-2002. He also was appointed dean of the Hampden East Deanery, serving from 2013 until his death. He also served as chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, St. Francis of Assisi Council 10698 in Belchertown, as well as chaplain for the Belchertown Police. Additionally, he was a Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Father Decoteau was well-known for his talents as a singer and pianist and had a special fondness for Broadway music; he produced several CDs as fundraisers for St. Francis of Assisi Parish. He also made headlines when, while vacationing in Maine, he met former President George H. W. Bush and his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, who heard Father Decoteau singing in a restaurant. The former president subsequently made several donations toward the building of the new St. Francis Church, which was completed in 2004. In recent years, Father Decoteau reconvened the diocese's Singing Priests and organized benefit performances in Chicopee and Pittsfield. Father Decoteau also enjoyed cooking and hosting dinner parties. In a survey completed for Catholic Communications during the 2009 worldwide Year of the Priest, Father Decoteau said his greatest joys as a priest were the whole experience of being a priest and the love of the people of God. He said his vocation to the priesthood was nurtured by the priests and sisters at Notre Dame in Adams and wrote in the survey that a person I most look up to is Bishop Joseph F. Maguire. Most recently, Father Decoteau was a guest contributor to the diocesan magazine, The Catholic Mirror, sharing a homily he had written for the feast of Corpus Christi in 1998, in which he wrote these words about the sacrament of the Eucharist: Before so great a sacrament, we can only echo humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion: 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed.' He will be deeply missed and forever remembered by his circle of family, brother Bruce J. Decoteau, and Shelby McConnell, Nicolas Decoteau, Nicole Dimitropolis, Jared Decoteau, Scott Clark, Michael R. Roberts, Richard Whitney, Tom and Linda Rooney, Dr. Robert and Ellen Donahue, along with his brother priests, parishioners and many dear friends. The wake for Father Decoteau will be held on Sunday, June 5 from 2-7 p.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Church. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be Monday, June 6 at 11 a.m., also in St. Francis Church. Burial will be Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. in Southview Cemetery, N. Adams. To honor his memory, the family requests that donations be made to St. Francis of Assisi Church, Organ and Building Fund, Box 612, Belchertown, MA 01007. "