Joseph Robert Cote

Deacon Joseph Robert Cote, 74, of Sparta, New Jersey, died on December 21 after a long illness. He was born to Evelyn Mae (McIntire) and Joseph N. Cote and was raised in Dover, New Hampshire. He attended St. Anselm College, In Manchester, New Hampshire.

He joined the National Guard on his 17th birthday and transferred to the Army Reserves when he entered St. Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire. Through the Army Reserves he competed for an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduated with the Class of 1960 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army. Between graduation and his first assignment, he married his high school sweetheart, Anita Dumais. The couple have been married 51 years.

During his 30 years in the Army he served as a commander of troops at the Company, Battalion, Brigade levels and as the Commandant of the Missile, Munitions Center and School. He also served and an Assistant Army Attaché at the American Embassy in London. He earned a Master of Science Degree in Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

His last military assignment was at Picatinny Arsenal where he was PM-CAWS. He worked for Hercules in Rocket City, West Virginia after retiring from the Army and returned to New Jersey and worked for Camber Corporation as Branch Manager in Mt. Arlington for 14 years.

Throughout his Army career Colonel Cote was active in the chapel community wherever he was assigned. He felt called to do more for his Church community and began the process of formation to become a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church and was ordained for the Diocese of Paterson in 2003. He served at Blessed Kateri Church in Sparta.

Besides his wife Anita, he is survived by his son Michael and his wife Yvonne and their children, Robert, Anna and Charlie of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania; and his daughter Annemarie Cote Hoffman and her husband Marc and their daughter August of Salisbury, North Carolina. He is also survived by his brother Don and his wife Sara of Boulder, Colorado and his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Richard and Carol Dumais, as well as nieces and nephews.

Visitation at will be at Blessed Kateri Church, 427 Stanhope Road, Sparta on December 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Blessed Kateri on December 28 at 10:30 a.m.

Internment will be held at a later date at Mount Calvary Cemetery, St. Martin Church in Somersworth, New Hampshire.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Karen Ann Quinlin Center Of Hope Hospice, 99 Sparta Ave. Newton, NJ 07860.