LEICESTER- Joseph H. Pratte, Sr., 79, of 8 Blueberry Lane died Friday, March 15th in U-Mass Memorial Healthcare-University Campus. His wife of 15 years, Marie R. (Arsenault) Pratte died in 2000. He leaves 8 sons; Martin J. Pratte of Leicester, Raymond J., Lawrence J., Richard C. and Vincent S. Pratte all of Worcester, Joseph H. Pratte, Jr. of Flagstaff, AZ, Paul M. Pratte of Auburn and Stephen J. Pratte of Webster; 3 daughters, Linda I. Oberg of Holden, Karen L. Critzer of Indialantic, FL and Denise J. Fahey of Tampa, FL. ; 2 stepsons, William R. Wade, Jr. of Hudson and Michael S. Wade of Gardner; 2 step daughters, Kathleen M. Gordon of Douglas and Mary Ellen Pratte of Leicester, a brother, George Pratte of Twin Peaks, CA; a sister, Laura Desharnais of Worcester; 39 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and several nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his 1st wife, Claire (Chasse) Pratte in 1979, 2 sons, Gerald L. and Philip N. Pratte and a sister, Jeanette Pratte.
He was born in Worcester, the son of Omer and Cora (Vallee) Pratte and had lived there for most of his life, before moving to Leicester 17 years ago. He was a Navy veteran of WWII receiving a citation for outstanding service as a member of the Yokosuka Occupation Force, which effected the first landing and occupation of the Japanese homeland on August 30, 1945. Mr. Pratte had been a teacher at Worcester Industrial Technical Institute for 20 years, retiring in 1981 and also taught at Worcester Junior College. He was a member of St. Joseph’s Church in Leicester, a lifetime member of the Worcester Lodge of Elks #243 and the Worcester chapter of the American society of metallurgists. Mr. Pratte was an active coach for the Ty Cobb little league and was instrumental in the opening of the Ty Cobb minor league and he was co-founder of the O’Brien baseball league.
The funeral will be Wednesday, March 20th from O’Connor Brothers Funeral Home, 592 Park Avenue, Worcester with a Mass at 10:00 AM in St. Joseph’s Church, 759 Main Street, Leicester. Burial will be in Worcester County Memorial Park, Paxton. Calling hours will be Tuesday, March 19th from 4:00 until 8:00 PM in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Massachusetts Association for the Blind, 51 Harvard Street, Worcester, MA 0l609.