Sr. Marie Eva Couture, pm

Sr. Marie Eva Couture, pm (Sr. Emmanuel-Marie), 90, of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, died October 14, 2025.

She was born in Claremont, NH on July 1, 1935 to Archie Victor and Caroline Eva (Michaud) Couture.

She made her religious profession with the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary on February 2, 1963 and served in the congregation for 62 years.

Sister Marie served Rivier University as a tenured full professor of art and music. She was a 1957 honors graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree, with a major in piano and a minor in voice, in addition to a second undergraduate degree in studio art. Sister Marie continued her education at Boston University, where she earned a Master of Arts degree in art history with specializations in the art of medieval Europe and the Italian Baroque.

In the late 1960s, she became chairperson of the Department of Art, eventually co-chairing Art and Music with Sr. Theresa Couture. Her leadership positioned Rivier to offer Bachelor of Fine Arts programs that met the standards of the national accrediting association. She supported the curriculum by founding and directing an Art Gallery and establishing an extensive slide library of some 30,000 images.

In the 1980s, Sister Marie studied organ and music composition at the Eastman School of Music, having already been mentored by distinguished choir masters and composers in Europe and America. She went on to parallel her background in art history by earning a Master of Music degree in musicology and music history at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1987. She was granted two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, one for the study of the liturgical art and music of Romanesque France, and the other for the study of Baroque, Classical, and early Romantic music and culture.

In addition to teaching art history surveys and humanities core offerings, developing courses in design history, leading tours of major art venues in Europe for students, and offering specialized courses such as Art and the Religious Experience, Music-Art-and-Ideas, French Art and Civilization, she found time to be cantor and organist on the Rivier campus and to sing with the Nashua Symphony Choral Society and the Boston Symphony Chorus.

Sister Marie Couture was at home where artist, musician, scholar, professor, and administrator can meet with creative integrity. In 2011 she was awarded the Sister of Madeleine of Jesus Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Alumni Association of Rivier University for distinguished service to the institution.

She was predeceased by her parents.

Sr. Marie is survived by two brothers, John Couture and his wife Elaine and Daniel Couture and his wife Lucille, one sister, Sr. Theresa Couture, pm, and many nieces, nephews and friends.

SERVICES: A private visitation for family and Sisters will take place on Saturday morning (10/18) at Resurrection Chapel of St. Marie Residence, 495 Mammoth Rd., Manchester. Family, relatives, Sisters, friends, and colleagues are invited to a Mass of Christian Burial at Immaculate Conception Parish, 216 East Dunstable Rd., Nashua at 12pm. The liturgy will be followed by lunch and fellowship in the Reception Room of the Dion Center at Rivier University, Nashua. Private burial will be in the Presentation of Mary Cemetery in Hudson.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Presentation of Mary Retirement Fund, c/o Sr. Lucy Veilleux, and mailed to 495 Mammoth Rd., Manchester, NH 03104.

Lambert Funeral Home & Crematory, Manchester is assisting with arrangements.