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Moe Coderre is a staple of the Putnam High School Athletics and the wider community. He has been the official timekeeper at PHS basketball home games for 38 years and has recently started keeping time for volleyball games and wrestling matches.
Basketball remains his favorite because when he is manning the clock, it is the most challenging and keeps him on his toes. He started timekeeping in 1985 when his two sons, Derek and Lance, were on the Putnam High School boys’ basketball team. At one of the games, longstanding Clipper girls’ basketball coach Willie Bousquet went to Coderre and asked if he could help them with the clock that night. He agreed and has been manning the clock ever since.
A home game doesn’t start until Coderre sings the National Anthem. Putnam students, staff, alumni, and visitors look forward to his performance. His tradition of singing the national anthem started over 20 years ago. He recalls asking everyone to rise for the playing of the National Anthem at one game and the song that came on instead was “Who Let the Dogs Out.” He then decided to ask everyone to join him in singing the National Anthem but no one else sang. He did not intend for it to perform at every game, but coaches, players, and referees all came up to high five him afterwards. Coderre kept getting asked to sing in each of the following games. Since the start of this tradition, he has also sung the National Anthem at Fenway Park and at Providence College basketball games.
Coderre graduated from Putnam High School in 1962. While attending, he was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, and baseball, captaining all three. He earned 10 varsity letters and scored 305 career points in basketball. Two weeks after graduating high school, he enlisted in the Air Force and ended up spending four and a half years in the service. He went to Texas for basic training, spent two years in Arizona, and two years in Germany. While stationed in Germany, he was able to visit seven other counties including France where he helped close U.S. military bases.
When he returned home, Coderre went to work for United Airlines for five months and married his wife, Pam. They’ve been married 55 years. He then worked at US Button and stayed there for 33, running the company for the last six. During his first few years there, Coderre also attended night classes at QVCC to get his associate’s degree in business. After working at US Button, he then went to work at Pallflex Cooperation for 10 years, working directly for the president of the company. He retired from Pallflex 13 years ago but, on his last day, Robert Fournier, owner of Gilman and Valade funeral homes, asked Coderre if he could help care for those who passed away. He agreed and they later built a crematory that Coderre has now run for 11years.
Even with his busy schedule, Coderre finds time to attend almost every home event for Putnam High School basketball, volleyball, and wresting. Because of his tireless dedication, he has been honored by the Putnam Board of Education with the Pride of Putnam award in recognition of his support of the student athletes.
When talking to him about his job as an official timer, Coderre said, “Being around young people... it keeps me young.” He said that being around PHS students keep him “young at heart but also young in spirit by coming here and watching kids with a lot of energy”. At games, Moe Coderre has the best seat in the house and does not seem to be giving it up anytime soon.
By Isabel Vergoni, student
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