Louie Adelbert LaBonte, 83, a resident of the Forest Grove community passed away on January 10, 2024 at the Providence St Vincent Medical Center in Portland.

Louie was born on March 23, 1940 in Gaston, OR. he was the youngest of five children born to Louie C. and Laura (Reynolds) LaBonte IV. Louie was a member of the Chinook Indian Nation. He was raised in Cherry Grove and started grade school in Gaston until the fifth grade when he attended Visitation Grade School. He then attended Verboort High School until his junior year (Verboort High School was consolidated into Forest Grove, Banks, and Hillsboro High district in 1957).

He enlisted into the US Navy at the age of seventeen, after boot camp he was the librarian at the Corpus Christi Naval base, Louie then served on the U.S.S. Norfolk until his honorable discharge in 1961 after serving 3 years.

Louie met his future wife, Leanne Hermens, in grade school, they didn’t start dating until 1957 and married on June 18, 1960 at Visitation Catholic Church in Verboort. They rented their first home from Johnny and Florence Herinckx in Cornelius on Heynderickx Road. In 1964 they moved to their home on Greenville Rd, they had four sons, Louie, LaRoy, Lyle and Lee.

As a young man Louie started working for the local farmer planting strawberries. In 1961 he took up a job at Wilbur–Ellis Company and retired following 40 years of service.

Louie enjoyed spending time with his family, he was a coach and umpire for his son’s Little League baseball and was an avid supporter of his children’s and grandchildren’s sports. He enjoyed golfing, was a NASCAR fan especially Terry and Bobby Labonte (no relation). He was a gardener and was known for his Prized tomatoes. Besides following his grandchildren’s sporting teams, he also followed the NY Yankees and the Portland Trail Blazers.

He is preceded in death by his parents, a granddaughter, Alison Rene LaBonte and three siblings, Helen Davis, Beverly Freeman and Stanley LaBonte.

He is survived by his loving wife, Leanne, four sons and their spouses, Louie and Penny LaBonte of Redmond, LaRoy and Eva LaBonte of Brighton CO, Lyle and Trudy LaBonte of Shelley ID, Lee and Heather LaBonte of North Plains, a sister, Barbara Kemper. Also surviving are ten grandchildren, Alan, Lauren, James, Lindsie, Taylor, Jenna, Matthew, Annika, Erika and Nathan and seven great grandchildren, Aiden, Ellie, Roman, Dominic, Cambria, Spencer and Meredith and many nieces and nephews.