Real Claude Lemieux

Real was born on May 31st, 1940 in Saint-Malo, Canada where he was one of eight children. His father Anthony Lemieux, was a dairy farmer. His mother, Edwidge (Menard) Lemieux, was a homemaker.

Real married Agnes Lavigne in 1963 and eventually moved to the United States in 1964 in search of better opportunities. One of his first jobs was being part of the building of the then new UCONN Hospital in Farmington, CT. He soon became a self-employed mason contractor, which he did for 15 years. Real eventually “retired” when he took his love of hockey and built an indoor deck hockey rink, Plainville Indoor Sports Arena in 1991. It was here that he really loved to be able to watch all the large groups of kids and teens coming in to skate and play, and in his words “staying out of trouble”. He found himself mentoring these kids, many of them for 10-15 years, and watching the kids of those players come to play as well. But his favorite and proudest, was watching his grandsons play hockey. The family like atmosphere of the rink is what kept the arena still going strong to this day after 26 years, proudly leaving his legacy and mark on this earth.

Real leaves behind his beloved, dedicated partner and wife, Agnes who followed him and his dreams and endeavors till the end. He was a devoted father to his two daughters, Sandra (Lemieux) Cipriano and her husband Mark Cipriano, Marie (Lemieux) Zuzick and her husband Kenneth Zuzick, and a “third daughter” and friend Laurie Derick.

Real’s joy of his life were no doubt his three grandchildren, Corporal Zachery Zuzick (USMC), Kennedy Zuzick, and Mason Cipriano. It was for these three that Real would give every spare moment, spare dime, and support every step and thing that they did. He couldn’t be more proud and wasted no time to tell everyone about them.

Real’s hobbies were golf, Whalers Hockey, fishing, spending the winters in Florida, but nothing compared to his special love and bond with all the horses he raised and cared for. He was so proud to also give that same love and experience of horses to his grandchildren through his last horses Miss Jo, Baby Quincy and RJ, who he still talked about even in his last days.

He is remembered with love by his siblings and their spouses Victor & Marthe Lemieux, Pauline & Roland Lavigne, Cecile & Eugene Levesque, Bernard & Mariette Lemieux, Lise & Gerald Thibeault, Yvon Lemieux & Anita Harrell, and will be joyfully reunited with his beloved brother Emery Lemieux and remembered by Emery’s widow Madelaine, his brother-in-law Gerard Lavigne and Mary Simmons, and Muriel Chaloux. Real was a very proud uncle to 20 nieces and nephews that were all so special to him.

Funeral will be Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 9:15 AM from DellaVecchia Funeral Home 211 N. Main St. to St. Aloysius Church for Mass at 10 AM. Burial will be at the convenience of the family. Calling hours are Friday from 5 to 8 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made payable to ARCC (Alzheimer’s Resource Center of Connecticut) at 1261 S Main St, Plantsville, CT 06479 for their wonderful Adult Day Care Program (please add ADC Program in notes).