{"id":61580,"date":"2025-02-03T23:15:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T04:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=61580"},"modified":"2025-02-03T23:15:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T04:15:22","slug":"genesee-county-batavia-downs-dennis-james-tourville-66-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/03\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-dennis-james-tourville-66-passes-away\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs\/Dennis James Tourville, 66, passes away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batavia, NY — Dennis James Tourville, 66, of Buffalo, New York, passed away on January 25, 2025 at the Erie County Medical Center. He was born on August 14, 1958 to the late Lester and Mildred Tourville.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Tourville had a life-long passion for animals, in particular horses. Born into a harness racing family, he learned how to groom, train and drive trotters and pacers under the tutelage of his father Lester, who was a longtime accomplished horseman on the Western New York circuit. He achieved his harness driver\u2019s license in 1981 and was an integral part of the stable his father campaigned for many years. Although his main focus was conditioning their stock, Mr. Tourville did register a total of 38 wins, 37 seconds and 46 thirds from his 476 career pari-mutuel starts in the sulky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the horses they campaigned together over the years include Candace Greenwood, Mar Con Don, Mr. Straw, Glamor S Collins, Devils Cheer, JRB and Jimmy R. His all-time favorite was a horse named Money, who he shared Pop Tarts and peanut butter crackers with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Lester Tourville retired from actively participating in the sport in 1997, Dennis continued to be fully engaged, acting as second trainer and caretaker to many horses racing at Batavia Downs and remained a beloved member of the racing community there right until that day he passed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Tourville was also a huge Buffalo Bills fan and you would often see him sporting a Bills sweatshirt in the barn area. He was also a beloved individual who will be missed by all who knew him during his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Tourville is survived by his siblings, Rev. David Tourville, Deborah Tourville, Diane Tourville, Donna (Fred) Kabel, Darlene (Dan) Bailey, Jeremey (Kc) Tourville and Sarah Tourville. Several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. His friends, who he thought of as family, and who took care of him during his illness,include Tammy, Todd, Kyle and Alyssa Cummings. Also, his close friend Donna Kerr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides his parents, Mr. Tourville was predeceased in death by his brother Daniel Tourville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family and Friends are invited to attend services on Sunday, February 9 at C. Mertz and Son Funeral Home, 911 Englewood Ave, Buffalo NY 14223. Calling hours will be at 3 p.m. followed by a service at 4 p.m. Saturday, April 26, there will be a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Dominic\u2019s Parish, 15 Union St Westfield, NY 14787 at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to New Vocation Racehorse adoption on their website newvocations.org<\/a> or to St. Jude Children\u2019s Research Hospital at stjude.org<\/a>. Your memories and condolences may be shared with the family at mertzfh.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs Batavia, NY — Dennis James Tourville, 66, of Buffalo, New York, passed away on January 25, 2025 at the Erie County Medical Center. He was born on August 14, 1958 to the late Lester and Mildred Tourville. Mr. Tourville had a life-long passion for animals, in particular horses. Born into a harness racing family, he learned how \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[919],"tags":[376,4888],"class_list":["post-61580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wny","tag-batavia-downs","tag-dennis-james-tourville"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-g1e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62052,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/02\/22\/genesee-county-batavia-downs-to-hold-remembrance-ceremony-for-longtime-employees\/","url_meta":{"origin":61580,"position":0},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Downs to hold remembrance ceremony for longtime employees","author":"aka","date":"February 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Western New York Harness Horseman\u2019s Association to donate $4,000 BATAVIA \u2013 Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced\u00a0that on the last day of the winter meet, prior to racing at 3pm on Monday, February 24th, President & CEO Byron Brown is scheduled to be joined by Family Members and Employees\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54180,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/06\/17\/batavia-retirees-recognized-at-this-evenings-board-of-education-meeting\/","url_meta":{"origin":61580,"position":1},"title":"BATAVIA\/Retirees recognized at this evening’s Board of Education meeting","author":"aka","date":"June 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Provided photos\/information\/Batavia City Schools At tonight's City School District Board of Education meeting, a brief presentation was held honoring retirees from this past year. Jennifer Corbelli - English Language Arts Teacher, Batavia High School\/with Superintendent Jason SmithGail DiGregorio - Secretary, School Counseling Office, Batavia High School Karen Barber - Secretary,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jennifer-Corbelli-Jason-Smith-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jennifer-Corbelli-Jason-Smith-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jennifer-Corbelli-Jason-Smith-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jennifer-Corbelli-Jason-Smith-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jennifer-Corbelli-Jason-Smith-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Jennifer-Corbelli-Jason-Smith-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51067,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/26\/genesee-county-kash-was-king-at-batavia-monday\/","url_meta":{"origin":61580,"position":2},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Kash was king at Batavia Monday","author":"aka","date":"February 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski for Batavia Downs Batavia, NY \u2014 The horses lined up for the final time this winter at Batavia Downs on Monday (Feb. 26) and the card featured a $12,000 conditioned pace that was won by Ball Diamond (Keith Kash Jr.), who claimed her second win of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69130,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/18\/genesee-county-double-class-and-kyle-cummings-standout-at-batavia-downs\/","url_meta":{"origin":61580,"position":3},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Double Class and Kyle Cummings standout at Batavia Downs","author":"aka","date":"October 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs Gaming (Photo courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery) Batavia, NY --- Quick early quarters and readily available cover provided Double Class with the perfect storm for winning the $10,000 Class AA trotting feature at Batavia Downs on Friday (Oct. 17) night.\u00a0 Mucho Macho (Kevin Cummings)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Double-Class-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Double-Class-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Double-Class-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Double-Class-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Double-Class-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67351,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/08\/22\/genesee-county-monti-wins-five-including-co-feature-at-batavia-downs\/","url_meta":{"origin":61580,"position":4},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Monti wins five including co-feature at Batavia Downs","author":"aka","date":"August 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs Gaming (Photos courtesy of Wendy J. Lowery) Batavia, NY --- A pair of $11,100 mid-level conditioned trots topped the card at Batavia Downs on Friday (Aug. 22) and class-droppers were victorious in both.\u00a0 The first went to Newsboy (Drew Monti) who held a loose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsboy-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsboy-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsboy-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsboy-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Newsboy-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69506,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/25\/genesee-county-crazy-ritz-livonjaxnqueens-win-headliners-at-batavia-downs\/","url_meta":{"origin":61580,"position":5},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Crazy Ritz, Livonjaxnqueens win headliners at Batavia Downs","author":"aka","date":"October 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tim Bojarski, for Batavia Downs Gaming (Photos courtesy of Wendy J. 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