Rene Edwin Louvat

Born July 3,1942 in Rumford, Maine, to parents Rene E. and Delena (“Nana Lena” Bernard) Louvat, the fourth of their eight children.

Rene was creative as a child. He was an Eagle Scout, learning survival skills, teaching his siblings how to forage for edible plants, and how to build a shelter to stay warm in the wild. Rene was industrious and found ways to achieve his dreams from an early age. As a child, he picked green beans for money to save enough for a bicycle. When a younger brother admired his bike, Rene scoured the town dump for parts, building a bike for him and gleaning discarded objects for other projects.

Rene attended Stevens High School, playing the sousaphone in the high school band. He joined the Navy prior to completing high school, and continued playing the sousaphone during basic training. He earned his GED while serving in the Navy and studied the field of cryogenics while on the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier stationed in the Mediterranean during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Rene overcame much adversity in his life. He even gave himself a timeline for finding work in his field of study or reenlisting in the Navy. He was consistently motivated and inspired to continue his personal and professional growth. Rene began his career at Union Carbide (a company that produced chemicals and polymers for industrial and consumer products, specifically with liquid oxygen) as a custodian with his eye on the future. While on shift, he taught himself to drive their trucks, leading to his promotion to truck driver. During this season of life Rene opened his home to his younger sister and brother and offered them structure, guidance, love and support. Rene was a role model and a source of pride for his family.

Rene quickly promoted to a plant position. He had intimate knowledge about the gases being manufactured and memorized the plant’s inner workings. When there were issues with production or machinery, Rene was able to offer suggestions and solutions, demonstrating his deep familiarity with the facility. In 1972, this knowledge led to a promotion to plant manager and transfer to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada. The family relocated south to Burlington, Ontario in 1980, when Rene took another promotion to plant supervisor in Oakville, Ontario.

In 1985, Rene concluded his employment with Union Carbide and returned to the United States to open a time management business in New Hampshire. Two years later, the family relocated to Reno, Nevada where Rene worked with a Navy friend in an arcade game business. Rene later opened his own balloon business, working with many Reno and Sparks clients to promote their businesses as well as private, public, and non-profit events, such as “Moms on the Run”.

Rene married Cheryl E. Eisenman in 1966, meeting Cherie while Rene worked a second job at a grocery store. They had their first child, Nancy Elizabeth, in July of 1967 and their second daughter, Tracy Marie, in August 1969. In 1977, their son Peter Francis was born and in 1979, daughter Kathleen (Katie) Renee, was born.

Upon arriving in Canada, the family moved into a new duplex on Arden Street, directly across from St. Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church. Rene, Cherie, and their young daughters attended services and immersed themselves in the local Catholic Community. They met and became close friends with their neighbors, the Gernons, who also had two young daughters. The Louvat family became close to another family, the Shunocks, through their church involvement and Rotary.

Rene and Cherie became involved in Cursillo, an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church, a method of living as a Christian in the world and pursuing continual, personal spiritual growth. Rene’s consistent prayer was to “Love like Jesus seven seconds at a time.” Rene became an evangelical Christian in Reno and actively lived out his faith, praising the Lord with gusto. His favorite hymns were “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” and “Amazing Grace”. He also loved the soundtrack from “Godspell” and sang loudly and proudly any chance he could.

While in the Soo, Rene was active in Rotary, co-founded the Sault Ste Marie Jazz Festival with Bob Gernon, and assisted with the Sault Ste Marie Bon Soo Winter Carnival, becoming Chairman in 1976.

Rene’s enthusiasm for life was infectious. He was passionate, loving, hilarious, empathetic, compassionate, creative, a lifelong learner, affectionate, generous, humble, full of life, joyful, comfortable in his own skin, athletic, devoted to his family, a loyal friend, community-focused, and a true patriot. His favorite word was FANTASTIC!

Rene had many hobbies and interests while growing up and on into adulthood. He enjoyed hunting, bowhunting, fishing, clamming, working on cars, running (he ran a marathon to raise funds for polio), billiards (since childhood), watching boxing, baseball, football (especially the NFL) and the Olympics, motorcycle riding, photography, beer brewing, skiing, ski jumping, cross country skiing, waterskiing, and woodworking. Rene adored many musical genres, especially jazz. He appreciated a well written poem or novel as much as a well executed joke on Saturday Night Live or Jimmy Fallon. Rene’s favorite meal was Lobster and a Coke with strawberry ice cream for dessert, but he’d be the first to tell you that anything tasted “Fantastic” as long as he was surrounded by family and there was a dog close by to pat.

Rene grappled with undiagnosed manic depressive illness, which was rarely addressed in the medical field until advances were made in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Rene bravely sought treatment in 1996. This diagnosis took quite a toll on him throughout his life, yet he consistently continued his treatment and was stable for many years. Rene was always willing to encourage others who were struggling and to be a friend to the lonely and hurting. When asked for life advice, Rene’s favorite phrase was “hang in there.”

He is predeceased by his parents Rene and Delena (Lena) Louvat, his older brother Robert (Bob) and his sister-in-law Sandy Louvat.

He is survived by his children; Nancy (Joe) Horn, Tracy (Russ) Klehn, Peter (Suzanne) Louvat, Katie Louvat-Persson (Russell Persson) and their mother, his former wife, Cherie Jamason; his grandchildren Jacob Moyle, Spencer Klehn, Grace (Colby) Lee; his great-grandchildren Titus and Selah Lee, his siblings Roland (Faye) Louvat, William (Billy) Louvat, Judy (Jerry) Nichols, Danny (Charlotte) Louvat, Mary-Ellen (Jim) Theriault, David (Kelly) Louvat, sister-in-law Holly Louvat and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

In Lieu of flowers, please donate to The Wounded Warrior Project at woundedwarriorproject.org, or NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, nami.org.