- Details
- Category: Past Issues
By Ron P. Coderre
The death of Earl D. Jodoin Jr. on May 14 at age 57 went almost unnoticed by the good people of northeastern Connecticut. But then again, Jodoin, affectionately known as “Butch” to his family, was a very low-key person, who in his own humble fashion enjoyed helping make life better for others.
Jodoin died following a brief but hard-fought battle with cancer, a battle that, according to his sister, Rose and her husband Steve, tortured his body in his last few days. The son of Earl and Jeannette Jodoin, he was raised in the Ballou’s Village section of Putnam as a youngster, where he developed an insatiable appetite for sports, especially baseball.
As a kid he could be found from sun-up to sunset on the makeshift diamonds that sprung up throughout the Rhodesville section of Putnam in those days. Although the area produced many of the community’s topnotch athletes, Earl was not among the elite. He struggled as a player and a student but he never gave up.
He played Little League as a youngster, as most kids in Putnam did. But his crowning moment was when he and his dad, Earl, Sr. entered a team in the competitive Putnam Recreation Softball League. Known as the Misfits, the team lived up to its name. They struggled for victories but were competitive and most of all enjoyed being on the diamond, Earl’s “field of dreams.”
Later in life, Jodoin would derive satisfaction by becoming a collector of sports memorabilia, especially autographed baseball photos and balls. A hard worker, who spent 25 years as a fork lift operator at NORAMPAC and the former Johnson Corrugated in Thompson, Jodoin volunteered his efforts with the Day Kimball Hospital Sports Auction Committee.
He, along with the likes of former Red Sox catcher Roger LaFrancois, Dave Landry, owner of J.D. Cooper’s Sports Bar, Jim Fritz, Joe Voccio, Keith Blanchard, Peter Gerardi, John Riley and Steve Chahanavich, worked diligently raising thousands of dollars in support of the hospital’s Pediatric Center for more than 20 years.
Earl Jodoin died a humble man, living a humble life doing what he enjoyed most, watching baseball on TV. A worker and volunteer who never asked for anything special in life, he never missed a day of work in his life and was always there to help make life better for others. Survived by his sisters, Rose and Bernadette and their husbands, Steve and Todd, his memory may not resound with the majority but to those who knew him and especially those who worked shoulder to shoulder with him at the sports auctions, he will never be forgotten.
Rest in peace, good and humble servant, Earl Jodoin.
(Donations in memory of Earl D. Jodoin, Jr. may be sent to Backus Hospital – Oncology Unit, Norwich, CT 06360.)